The truck that crushed Priyanka Sinha and her children Ayush and Prerna at Anisabad More in Patna on Monday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, June 20: A child and his mother were killed while his sister was seriously injured when two speeding trucks crushed them under their wheels at Anisabad More around 1pm today.

Balambi Chak residents Dhananjay Kumar Sinha and his wife Priyanka had picked up their two children — Ayush, 10, and Prerna, 8 — from Springdale School and were returning home when they met with the accident.

Sources said a truck, speeding to escape the eyes of traffic policemen who were checking heavy vehicles, hit the motorbike the family was travelling on. As Dhananjay lost control, Priyanka, Ayush and Prerna fell on the road. The truck ran over Priyanka and the two children.

Seconds after the truck came to a halt at a distance from the bodies, another speeding truck, unable to apply its brakes in time, crushed the bodies on the road again. While Priyanka and Ayush were killed on the spot, Prerna was seriously injured in the accident.

Prerna was rushed to nearby SS Hospital. Sources said she lost an arm and was still in a critical state.

Drivers and helpers of both the trucks fled the spot.

The residents of the area blocked the stretch of road in protest. They claimed that accidents were inevitable on the stretch, as policemen often allowed overloaded truck to ply on it after taking bribe from the drivers.

Narsingh Narayan, Priyanka’s father, rushed to the spot on hearing about the mishap.

“I take the children home from school everyday. However, as the school reopened today after summer vacation, Dhananjay decided to pick them up himself. How can he and I just keep quiet? Someone needs to answer for this. The police must answer,” said an agitated Narayan.

As the protest of the residents aggravated, senior police officers rushed to the spot. Superintendent of police (city) Shivdeep Lande and Sachivalaya assistant superintendent of police Satyaveer Singh tried to convince Dhananjay to allow them to take the bodies. When Dhananjay refused, they tried to convince Narayan and handed him a compensation of Rs 22,000 (Rs 11,000 for each deceased) on the spot.

Dhananjay, however, refused to allow the policemen to take the bodies with them. “What will I do with the money? The chief minister should come here,” he shouted.

The police had to lathicharge the mob and also use water guns to disperse them. Dhananjay was forcibly taken along with the bodies in police vehicles.

Lande told The Telegraph that a police post would be set up at the spot in a week to manage traffic.

Gaya mishap

A speeding truck crushed to death one Shweta Kumari, 14, around 11.30am today near Rahimbigha village on the Gaya-Patna road.

Agitated residents of the area torched the truck and also blocked the area for two-and-a-half-hours.

The driver of the truck and his helper, however, fled the spot. Chandauti block development officer Shankar Kumar and other senior officers rushed to the spot.