Major accident near Rashtrapati Bhavan; 5 injured, 5 cars damaged

A speeding Honda City car collided with a Maruti SX4 car at the Rafi Marg-Rajpath intersection, close to Vijay Chowk in New Delhi.

New Delhi: Five persons were injured in an accident involving five cars, a police van and a few motorbikes at an intersection near the Rashtrapati Bhavan, police said on Saturday.

The incident was reported at around 11.30 pm on Friday when a speeding Honda City car collided with a Maruti SX4 car at the Rafi Marg-Rajpath intersection, close to Vijay Chowk, following which the Honda City climbed over a pavement, said a police official.

A Police Control Room (PCR) van was rushed to the spot and several other vehicles gathered there within minutes, said the official.

Meanwhile, a speeding Audi car approached the intersection and lost control in a bid to prevent ramming into the SX4, but ended up hitting several other vehicles, including the PCR van, two cars (a Zen Estilo and an Alto) and a few motorbikes, the official said.

The driver of the Audi, who was suspected to be drunk, escaped unhurt as the car's airbags got activated and he fled the scene, abandoning the car at the spot, the official said.

"The five injured persons were rushed to a hospital and a case of rash driving has been registered," said DCP (New Delhi) Jatin Narwal.

When the police checked records, it emerged that the Audi car belongs to a Patel Nagar-based businessman. However, preliminary investigation has revealed that the owner was not driving the vehicle at the time of the incident, said a police official.

Search is on for the driver, the official added.