A 40-year-old pedestrian died after being hit by an electric rickshaw—commonly known as a City Safari—in Barhi Birpur of Chhinnamasta Rural Municipality-1, Saptari district, on Friday night.

The rickshaw was en route from Rajbiraj to Lokharam at the time of the incident. The victim, Kusheshwar Marik of Kankatta in Bishnupur Rural Municipality-4, sustained critical injuries after being struck and was immediately rushed to Gajendra Narayan Singh Hospital in Rajbiraj, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.

Although the police have taken the vehicle into custody, the driver fled the scene and remains at large.

Marik’s family lodged a formal complaint on Saturday, accusing the driver of causing the fatal crash by operating the vehicle without headlights. They have also alleged that local police helped the driver escape following the accident.

The accident site lies just 1.5 kilometres from the Barhi Birpur police post. The family has criticised officers for failing to apprehend the driver despite being nearby when the accident occurred.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Jitendra Kumar Basnet, spokesperson of Saptari district police, confirmed that a search operation to locate the absconding driver is underway.

“The post-mortem examination has been completed and the body handed over to the family,” he said. “Further investigation into the incident is ongoing.”