An LSE student has been named as the cyclist killed in a collision with a bin lorry in central London last week.
Cheistha Kochhar, 33, originally from India, was on her way home from studies on her PhD in behavioural science when she was fatally injured in Clerkenwell.
She died at the scene, on Clerkenwell Road at the junction with A201 Farringdon Road, after the crash with the bin lorry on Tuesday afternoon.
Her father Dr SP Kochhar, Director General of Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), wrote on X of being in London following his daughter’s death.
Mr Kochhar, also a former Lieutenant General, said: "Trying to collect the remains of my daughter, Cheistha Kochhar.
"She was run over by a truck on 19 Mar while cycling back from LSE, where she was doing her PhD.”
He said her death “has devastated us and her large circle of friends” as he called for loved-ones to share photos, videos and memories of her.
Police officers have appealed for witnesses of the collision to come forward or whoever has dashcam footage of the incident to get in touch. The lorry driver was interviewed at the scene andno arrests have been made.
The young woman killed last week by a lorry driver while cycling in Clerkenwell has been named as Cheistha Kochhar, an @LSEnews PhD student.
— London Cycling Campaign (@London_Cycling) March 25, 2024
Our hearts go out to her husband Prashant who was cycling with her at the time.https://t.co/cDWiWSKYNp
The department head of Ms Kochhar’s course at the LSE Sarah Ashwin, described her as a “brilliant student” in a tribute on an online memorial page.She wrote: “Cheistha was a brilliant student – gifted, warm, hardworking, full of life and light. She was a model member of the PhD community, loved by everyone who interacted with her. We had high hopes would grow to be a reputed scholar. We are so sorry that these dreams will not be realised, but we will find ways to ensure she is not forgotten at LSE.
Amitabh Kant, former CEO of NITI Aayog, where she had spent a stint working, paid tribute to the student on social media.
He wrote on X: "Cheistha Kochhar worked with me on the #LIFE programme in NITI Aayog. She was in the #Nudge unit and had gone to do her PhD in Behavioural Science at #LSE. Passed away in a terrible traffic incident while cycling in London. She was bright, brilliant and brave and always full of life. Gone away too early. RIP.”
In 2022, cyclists formed a “human barrier” to protect other riders from vehicles in protest at the lack of action to improve safety on one of London’s most dangerous routes.
Cyclist Travis Nelson, 47, and his cat Sigrid were knocked off a bicycle a busy intersection between Clerkenwell Road and Goswell Road last November.
In July 2018, medics used battlefield techniques to save cyclist Sarah Doone, a TV technician, left crushed and bleeding under a cement lorry near the Old Street roundabout.
In September 2018, Great Ormond Street Hospital doctor Maria Bitner-Glindzicz was knocked off her bike and killed when a van driver opened his door – sending her swerving into the path of a black cab.
A cyclist in his 30s was seriously injured following a collision with a double-decker bus at the busy junction between Farringdon Road and Clerkenwell Road in August 2015.
