At least 17 persons died and several others injured in Shahjahanpur when a speeding truck rammed into two Tata Magic vehicles before overturning on one of them. The accident occurred on Tuesday morning and the truck driver managed to escape while the cleaner was arrested by the police. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital.
The mishap occurred on the national highway (NH 24) at Jamuka roundabout under Roza police station area.
The speeding truck hit a tempo and then ploughed into a van which hurtled down a ditch. The truck overturned and fell on the van, trapping the occupants. The deceased also three women and three children. The condition of two of the injured victims was stated to be critical.
The mishap caused a massive traffic jam on the highway. According to Superintendent of Police (City) Dinesh Tripathi, a crane was sent from Shahjahanpur to lift the mangled truck and retrieve the bodies. The truck driver fled the spot while the helper was nabbed, the SP said.
The tempo was ferrying passengers from Bartara while the van was carrying passengers from Shahjahanpur. The injured were admitted to a local hospital and the bodies sent for the post-mortem, the SP said.
The deceased were identified as Aman (6), Alia (8), Arshit (12), Azim (26), Balram (40), Vinod (40), Ram Kishore (48) and Budha Lal (46), the SP said, adding that efforts were on to identify the rest.
Bareilly Divisional Commissioner Ranvir Prasad said a magisterial inquiry would be conducted to ascertain if the accident was a result of the truck driver’s laxity or any problem in the vehicle. He said it would also be probed if the vehicles ferrying passengers had valid permits.
Prasad and Deputy Inspector General Rajesh Kumar Pandey visited the accident site and also the hospital to enquire about the health of those injured.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the deaths and directed the district officials to provide all possible medical treatment to the injured and compensation to kin of the deceased.
Meanwhile, eight more persons were killed in three separate mishaps since Monday evening. In Jaunpur, four persons were killed and two injured when a truck rammed into a car on Tuesday morning.
Reports said that one of the tyres of a speeding truck (UP62T-8405) burst after which the driver lost control of the vehicle which rammed into a car (DL7CH-5073), resulting in the death of four occupants. The accident occurred at Viloi hamlet of Mograbadshahpur in Jaunpur district. The deceased were identified as Ghayasuddin (25), Sufiyan (24), Salman (23), Ejaz Ahmed (30) — all residents of Biloi in Madhupur. The condition of Qamruzzama was said to be critical. The accident resulted in a huge traffic blockade in the area.
Elsewhere, in Shamli, two men were killed when their two-wheeler rammed into a tree, police said on Tuesday. The accident occurred near Chosana village under Jhinjhana police station area on Monday evening. The deceased were identified as Brijender (30) and Tejpal (28).
They were on their way to Lachmipura village from Chosana when the accident occurred. In another case in Bijnore, two youths were killed when they came in contact with a live wire at Khairullahpur village under Afzalgarh police station. The victims — Ajay (20) and Mukesh (22) — had gone fishing in a local river on Monday but did not return home. Their bodies were found floating in the river on Tuesday. A live wire jotting out from the high-tension line was found submerged in the river. The bodies were fished out of the river after shutting the power lines.
