Ukrainian woman dies in a fog crash on the Delhi-Agra expressway

A 20 year-old Ukrainian woman Bohdana Kobalova, died in a fog crash, along with the driver of the car – a 33 year-old event manager, Vaibhav Sharma.  The accident happened on the Delhi-Agra expressway as Mr. Sharma is said to have lost control of the car due to fog, and rammed into a road divider. Mr. Sharma died on the spot, and Ms. Kobalova is said to have battled for life for nearly an hour before succumbing after a expressway patrol vehicle allegedly refused to help.

At the time of the crash, which happened at about 8:40 AM in the morning, there were four people in the car that was heading back to Delhi, from Kanpur. There were two Ukrainian women who were in the car. The other woman, Maria Ihnatenko , also aged 20, is said to be injured in the crash, along with another man – 34 year-old Ankit.

Shiv Chauhan, a TV reporter from Agra alleges police and expressway patrol apathy. He said that the two Ukrainians were injured but alive, and trapped in the car. Mr. Chauhan adds that while the injured were being dragged out, an expressway patrol squad  arrived and cordoned off the area but didn’t take the injured to the hospital, saying that it wasn’t their job.

Another TV reporter, Ajender Singh, who was also at the spot with Shiv Chauhan said that multiple calls to police officials didn’t elicit any response. Also, their attempt to take the injured to a private hospital was unsuccessful, with the hospital refusing admission without police permission. This resulted in crucial time getting wasted, eventually resulting in Ms. Kobalova succumbing to her injuries.

Deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Alok Dubey, under whose jurisdiction the accident spot falls in, responded to the allegations,

The allegation that policemen did not help when the journalists were taking the victims to hospital is a serious one. We will investigate the matter and take proper action.

Fog kills!

Most parts of north India is covered with severe fog in the months between November and February. It’s advisable to avoid driving in dense fog. If you have no option but to drive on fogged-up roads, make sure that you stick to slow speeds, use fog lights while moving and hazard lights when parked.

Via TOI