19-year-old German woman, Indian hubby die in e-way crash

Agra, Mar 11: A 19-year-old German woman and her Indian husband, Abhijit Soni, 23, died in an accident on the Yamuna Expressway late on Thursday.

Louisa Joan Rose, who worked as a car designer with Mercedes-Benz and had got married just six months ago, and Soni, who were on a motorcycle, collided with a potato-laden tractor-trolley on the expressway at milestone 131 near the Mathura-Agra border at around 11pm on Thursday night.

Praveen Kumar, station officer of Baldeo police station, said, "The two, who were on a motorbike with only Soni wearing a helmet, initially survived the impact, but vehicles coming from Delhi ran Soni over as he was thrown onto the middle of the expressway after colliding with the potato-laden tractor-trolley. Louisa died on her way to the S N Medical College in Agra."

Soni was employed with a private shoe company in Kanpur. The two met through Facebook seven years ago and had got married just six months back in Kanpur. They had gone to Delhi to apply for Rose's Indian citizenship and were on their way back when the accident occurred.

Deepti Soni, Abhijit's sister, told TOI, "Louisa had tied the knot with my brother on September 17, 2016 after taking a break from her job with Mercedes-Benz. Since her visa was about to expire, the two had gone to Delhi to apply for Indian citizenship for her."

"The German embassy is making arrangements to send back the mortal remains of Louisa to her home in St. Johann Wurttemberg, 180km from Frankfurt. She was the youngest of three sisters. Her father, who isn't keeping well, wanted to see his daughter's body one last time."

According to a recent RTI reply, the Yamuna Expressway saw 1,193 accidents in 2016, killing 128 persons. In 2015, 142 persons lost their lives in 919 accidents on the "killer" stretch. In the four and a half years since its opening, the expressway has seen the death of 548 people in 4,076 accidents, with 2016 reporting the highest number of accidents in a year.