Kolkata, 3 December (H.S.):

A 12-year-old schoolboy was critically injured on Wednesday morning after a speeding lorry rammed into a motorcycle at Maniktala, throwing him onto the road before the vehicle’s rear wheel ran over him. The incident occurred near the Bengal Chemicals intersection, a busy stretch in the area.

According to police and eyewitness accounts, the boy was riding pillion with his father on their way to school when the lorry, approaching at high speed from behind, crashed into their motorcycle. The impact hurled the child several feet away, and before he could get up, the lorry ran over him. He was immediately rushed to a private hospital near the EM Bypass, where he remains in critical condition.

Tension gripped the locality soon after the accident. Residents chased down the driver and apprehended him. A team from Phoolbagan police station later reached the spot and formally arrested the accused.

The injured boy is a student of Bidhannagar Municipal School. Family members said he had left home as usual with his father when the horrific accident unfolded.

Eyewitnesses alleged that the driver did not stop after the collision and instead accelerated in an attempt to flee, during which the boy came under the wheels of the vehicle.

The incident comes barely hours after another fatal road crash in Kolkata. On Tuesday evening, one person died in the Shyambazar area when two buses racing against each other hit 58-year-old Shambhunath Das as he was crossing the road. Das had reportedly come to the locality to conduct private tuition classes.

A series of back-to-back road accidents in the city has sparked deep concern among residents, who are demanding stricter enforcement of traffic rules and action against reckless driving.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh