Hyderabad, December 25: An Intermediate girl, who preferred to cross the road instead of using the foot overbridge (FOB) just a few feet away, was crushed under the wheels of an RTC bus at Khairatabad junction on Thursday morning.
Though this is the first case of a pedestrian being killed while crossing the road near the FOB, police and locals said pedestrians rarely used it cross the road even after barricades were erected.
The girl, G Sravanthi (17) was a resident of Nehru Nagar in Khairatabad. She was a firstyear student of Saradha Junior College at Yellareddyguda.
As usual, Sravanthi left her home around 7.30 am to reach college. She crossed over the railway tracks to reach Khairatabad main road near the ICICI Bank.
“Sravanthi was crossing the road to catch a bus to her college at Yellareddyguda when a bus coming from towards SR Nagar hit her,’’ Saifabad police sub-inspector Mahnood Ali said. The girl came under the front wheels of the bus, leading to her instant death.
“She should have taken the FOB constructed to enable pedestrians cross the road with heavy rush of vehicular traffic at the Khairatabad junction,’’ police said.
Pedestrians, old and young alike, do not prefer to use the FOB and cross the road, police said.
To force the pedestrians to use it, municipal authorities have erected iron barricades on the divider but to no avail.
“They sneak through the small openings between the railings and the street lights,’’ a police officer said.
Meanwhile, police took the driver of the bus, belonging to Vuyyur depot into custody and are investigating. A case under Section 304A (rash and negligent driving) has been registered.
–Agencies