UK: NRI crushed to death by his own car

London: A 48-year-old NRI IT consultant was crushed to death by his own car after his seven-year-old son accidentally released the handbrake while looking for sweets, an inquest into the six month old incident has heard. According to a report in the Daily Mail, Pratik Pandya tried to stop the car containing his boy rolling away when he was killed on his driveway.

He suffered abdominal injuries and a deep cut to his left leg when the VW Touran pinned him against a wall outside the family home in west London. Pandya died two days later in hospital after three operations to try to stop internal bleeding. He was preparing to go shopping with his son and his accountant wife when tragedy struck on May 5, 2012.

According to the report, Pandya spotted the car rolling away as he went inside the semi-detached house to collect something, and rushed outside to try to stop it. His young son had accidentally released the handbrake while looking for sweets.

He was taken to West Middlesex University Hospital around 45 minutes after the crash after complaining of back and arm pain. He was rushed into surgery where three litres of blood from internal injuries was removed, and it was discovered his colon had been severely damaged.

His condition deteriorated despite undergoing three operations for internal bleeding and died on May 7, two days after being admitted to hospital. The coroner said no one is to blame for Pandya's death after hearing it was unlikely the handbrake of the people carrier had been released accidentally.

"It is not for me to say, but it is not apparent there is anyone to blame for this, especially Pandya's young son. It is plain to me, very strongly, that this was an accident. It is not something someone could have prevented, it was untoward," she said.

Recording a verdict of accidental death, Pygott said in trying to prevent his car from rolling backwards down the front drive on to the road, he became trapped between the driver's door of the car and a brick pillar at the top of the drive. This caused severe internal injuries which were not amenable to treatment, she said. She recorded the cause of death was haemorrhaging and internal abdominal injuries.