As Isha Khairwar (22) opened her eyes, she was unable to register what had happened for a moment. Her head was bleeding, and her hands were scratched, as she made an effort to sit up on the road. She managed to stand only to find her friends lying in different parts, motionless.
Isha and four of her friends were out for a stroll on Saturday night when they had been hit by a vehicle in Greater Noida. Her friend, Arjun Sharma, succumbed to injuries.
“I don’t live in the area, I was only visiting a friend. It wasn’t even that late in the night. We were walking on the road when all of a sudden, I heard screeching tires and silence. I was the only person who managed to open her eyes. I saw all of them lying wounded and bleeding. I immediately went to them and tried to wake them up,” said Isha as she was wheeled into the general ward in Navin Hospital.
Ayush and Aditya were walking slightly behind the women and were the first to be hit by the car, said Isha. “As soon as the car hit us, a crowd gathered… I asked everyone to take us to the hospital but most didn’t know what to do,” she said. Police stated that the five hastened to the hospital within minutes. Isha and Anjali hail from Jaunpur. Arjun lived with his parents in Agra.
Police said Arjun’s sister had gotten married this week and his parents insisted he return to Greater Noida on Monday, said police. However, he had returned on Saturday and the friends decided to meet in the evening. His body has been taken back to Agra where the cremation will take place, said police.
The students’ friends received information later in the night that an accident had occurred. On Sunday, the students’ batchmates and faculty members visited them in the hospital. “We came to know around 2 am that this has happened. They are still in shock. They were merely walking when they were run over… One of them died for no fault of his. There has to be justice in this case,” said Abhishek, a friend.
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