New Delhi, Feb 25 (PTI) A swift dash to protect his son was not enough to save neither Hariom nor his four-year-old boy, both of whom came under a speeding truck when it lost balance and overturned.

Four-year-old Anuj was playing in the street when Hariom saw a truck coming at a speed and rushed to save him. The truck lost its balance and overturned, crushing under it at least five people, four of whom died.

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The Street No 10 of the Anand Parbat area where the incident happened on Saturday had labourers working on road construction.

A crane was called at the spot which lifted the truck, and the victims were pulled out.

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"We were working near Street Number 10 in Anand Parbat when my husband saw a truck coming at a speed. He rushed to bring our son to safety, who was playing there, but both came under the truck," Hariom's wife, Rajkumari Ahirvar, said.

The couple's eight-year-old daughter Akanksha survived the accident because she was playing at a distance.

Rajkumari, who too was busy working on the road, heard a loud noise and turned to find that her husband, son, and a few other labourers were crushed under a truck.

The couple had just come back from Jhansi, their native place, 10 days ago and had been working on the road construction since then. "We all live near the site and visit our native place every three months," she said.

Rajkumari said her father-in-law is on his way to Delhi after hearing about the death of his son and grandson.

Hariom's elder brother Arvind is also a labourer and works in southwest Delhi's Najafgarh area.

Ram Sevak, a brother-in-law of Rajkumari, said, "I work in Rohtak, Haryana. I got a call from Rajkumari's uncle about the incident. He asked me to reach Delhi as soon as possible."

Motilal Ahirwar, a relative of Hariom, who survived the tragedy with injuries in both his knees and chest, said, "The lower portion of my body was stuck under the truck, and I fell unconscious."

He said the truck first broke the shutter of a shop and then overturned. His wife Rani who too was at work with him also got injured in the incident.

The labourers, most of whom are from the same place, began working on the road a month back working shifts that start at 11 pm and go on till 5 in the morning.

Ramesh and his wife Sonam were the two other people who died in the incident.

Lala Ram, 35, an elder brother of Ramesh, said they have been working in Delhi for the last three months.

"I was on the other side of the road. The truck fell on its right side. The incident is very unfortunate. There were more people working on the other side and the number of deaths could have been more if the vehicle fell on its left. There was debris inside the truck," he said.

According to Lala Ram, there were 14 people working at the spot at that time. Ramesh and Sonam are survived by their three children who live in the village with their grandparents, he said.

After the incident, labourers blocked a portion of Rohtak Road where the accident took place demanding justice for the victims. They were later removed from the spot after they were assured of strict action by the police.

Raju, a shopkeeper in the area, said the truck rammed into his shop and damaged a part of it before it fell over with a bang.

"I got a call from a mechanic who has his shop next to mine. I reached here in the morning and was shocked to see that the truck had removed a pillar and two shutters from the shop," Raju said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)