Road mishaps claimed 20 lives, including 10 in Pilibhit and eight in Hamirpur districts respectively since Wednesday night.
In the first tragic road accident reported from Pilibhit district, 10 devotees were killed while six others were injured when their vehicle rammed into a tree in the early hours of Thursday.
Two of the injured were in critical condition and were shifted to Bareilly.
Police reached the spot and started an investigation.
According to reports, a speeding pickup overturned on the highway after ramming into a tree in the Gajraula police station area of Pilibhit. The pickup was full of devotees returning to Gola after taking a bath in the Ganga in Haridwar. The injured said that the accident happened as the driver dozed off. While eight died on the spot, two more were pronounced dead at the hospital.
District Magistrate Pulkit Khare and Superintendent of Police Dinesh Kumar P reached the district hospital as soon as they got information about the incident. The district magistrate said that while returning to Gola from Haridwar, the pickup met with an accident near Gajraula.
There were 17 people in the vehicle.
The deceased were identified as Laxmi (28), Rachna (28), Sarla Devi (60), Harsh (16), Khushi (2), Sushant (14), Anand (3), Lalman (65), Shyamsundar (55) and driver Dilshad (35), all hailing from Gola.
Those injured in the mishap were identified as Sheelam Shukla (35), Sanjeev Shukla (35), Praveen (19), Prashant (17), Krishnapal Shukla (33), Poonam Devi (42) and Rishu alias Yash Trivedi (16).
In another mishap in Hamirpur district, eight people were killed and seven injured after a loader truck collided with an auto-rickshaw on Wednesday evening.
Police said the injured were shifted to a nearby hospital for treatment.
According to the police, the accident took place on the National Highway in the Maudaha Kotwali area of Hamirpur district.
“Eight people were killed and seven injured in the collision between a loader truck and an auto-rickshaw on the National Highway in Maudaha Kotwali area of Hamirpur. The injured have been shifted to a hospital,” Circle Officer of Maudaha, Vivek Yadav, said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in the Hamirpur accident.
“The accident in Hamirpur, Uttar Pradesh is very painful. I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives, as well as to the injured for a speedy recovery. The state government and the local administration are doing all they can to help the injured,” Prime Minister Modi tweeted.
In the another mishap on Fatehpur-Lucknow highway, two cousins riding bicycles were crushed by a dumper coming from behind when they were returning from a wedding ceremony.
Reports said that Shyamu Paswan (14) and Rinku (20) were cousins hailing from Manpur Majre Bhadar village. They had gone to attend the marriage of their cousin Jitendra in Mishramau village. When they were returning home by bicycle early in the morning on Thursday, a speeding dumper crushed their bicycle and killed both of them. The driver fled from the spot with the dumper soon after the mishap. The local police sent the bodies for autopsy and launched a hunt for the absconding driver.
