In a tragic accident, at least 14 passengers were killed and two dozen others injured when a private bus in which they were travelling rammed into a stationary truck on Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Firozabad on Wednesday night.
The police said that at least 40-45 passengers were travelling in the ill-fated bus and the injured were shifted to Saifai Mini PGI in Etawah.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the deaths in the accident and hoped for speedy recovery of the injured.
“The road accident on Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Uttar Pradesh has caused deep grief. Many passengers have lost their lives ... My condolences to the families of the victims in this hour of grief. I wish those injured recover soon,” the Prime Minister’s Office said in a tweet quoting Modi.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the district magistrate and district police chief of Ferozabad to reach the spot and oversee relief. He also said that the injured be provided the best treatment.
Yogi also announced Rs 2 lakh each compensation for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each for the injured.
As per reports, a private double-decker bus was heading to Motihari in Bihar from Delhi when it rammed into a container truck from behind around 10 pm on Wednesday.
One of the passengers undergoing treatment at the Etawah hospital, told news persons that he lost consciousness after the crash.
“When I regained consciousness, I found everything around me lying broken. I was on the upper floor of the bus when the accident occurred. I was brought here (Saifai hospital in Etawah) in an ambulance later. All passengers were from Bihar. I don’t know what happened to the one who was sleeping on the adjoining seat,” he said.
The injured cleaner of the truck said, “I was changing a deflated tyre of the truck by the roadside when the speeding bus rammed into the truck. My helpers and the driver are badly hurt.”
Bihar Chief Minister, Nitish Kumar also issued a statement expressing grief over the deaths on Thursday and wished for the speedy recovery of the injured.
Kumar also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each for seriously injured passengers from Bihar.
In January too, as many as 20 persons had died after a double-decker bus carrying 45 passengers collided with a truck at Dewar Marg in Kannauj and went up in flames.
Meanwhile in Ballia, three persons were killed when their car rammed into a tree and skidded into a pond near Patpar village early Thursday morning.
The car occupants were returning from a wedding when the accident took place, killing Abhishek Gupta (17), Anup Gupta (18) and Sunil Gupta (42) on the spot.
In another mishap in Muzaffarnagar, a 28-year-old Haryana resident died while another was missing after a SUV with four passengers plunged into the Ganga canal on Delhi-Haridwar highway near Dhamat village in Purkazi police station area on Wednesday night. Two other passengers were rescued.
The police said that Mohit (28), Anuj (30), Anil (28) and Bharat (25) were on their way to Haridwar from Palwal (Haryana) in a car when the vehicle fell into the canal.
While Mohit and Anuj were rescued from the canal. the body of Anil was fished out while Bharat was still missing and a search was underway.
