NEW DELHI:
A car accident involving Indian actress and lawmaker Hema Malini killed a four year old girl on Thursday night, injuring several others including Malini herself, officials stated.
The 66 year old Member of Parliament in PM Modi’s BJ Party was rushed to the hospital amidst minor injuries, after her Mercedes collided with a small ‘Alto’ in the western desert state of Rajasthan.
“One girl child has died in the accident,” local state lawmaker Shankar Lal Sharma told reporters.
“Hema has injuries above her eyes, on her back and legs. I drove her to the hospital in my car. She was in pain,” he added.
The impact killed the four-year-old girl in the other car and injured three co-passengers and the driver, who were also taken to hospital, the Press Trust of India cited a local administrator as saying.
Malini, an MP from northern Uttar Pradesh state, was reportedly travelling from the Taj Mahal city of Agra to Rajasthan’s capital of Jaipur when the accident occurred.
Television images showed the severely crumpled front end of her luxury car and the actor holding a bloodied handkerchief as her forehead bled.
Deadly traffic accidents are common in India, with more than 200,000 fatalities annually, according to the World Health Organization.
Last year, BJP MP Gopinath Munde was killed in an accident in New Delhi, barely a week after taking up his new post as rural affairs minister in Modi’s right-wing cabinet.
Transport analysts attribute the huge number of accidents to poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.
