114-yr-old marathon runner Fauja Singh dies in hit-&-run

Veteran marathon runner Fauja Singh died after being hit by an unidentified car while he was crossing a road at his native Beas village in Jalandhar district on Monday. He was 114. Following the road accident in the afternoon around 3.30pm, he was taken to a private hospital in Jalandhar, where he succumbed to his injuries.

- Navrajdeep Singh

Adampur SHO Herdev Preet Singh said they received the information about Fauja Singh's death at 8.45 pm following which the statements of their family members were being recorded.

“We have registered an FIR against the unidentified vehicle driver. As per available information, Fauja Singh was trying to cross the main Adampur-Bhogpur road around 3.30pm when the mishap occurred,” he said.

Jalandhar rural SSP Harvinder Virk said the police were sounded only after his death at the hospital. “The accident happened when he was going to a dhaba owned by the family on the Bhogpur road. We are looking for CCTV footage from the area for the identification of the vehicle, which fled after hitting him,” the SSP said.

Famously known as ‘Turbaned Tornado’, the record holder marathon runner, who was the youngest among four siblings, was born on April 1, 1911, in Jalandhar’s Beas village.