12 die as fog triggers accidents in UP

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has “appealed to the people to follow traffic rules” and stressed that “it was essential to check accidents, especially due to the winter fog”, according to a state government statement.

At least 12 people were killed and more than 42 were injured in separate road accidents reported across Uttar Pradesh due to dense fog even as chief minister Yogi Adityanath appealed people “to follow traffic rules”, police said on Monday.

The vehicles damaged in the accident, in Yamunanagar on Sunday. (ANI)

The accidents have taken place in Auraiya, Kanpur Dehat, Unnao, Kanpur, Kannauj, Mainpuri and Kasganj districts of the state since Sunday night, said police.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has “appealed to the people to follow traffic rules” and stressed that “it was essential to check accidents, especially due to the winter fog”, according to a state government statement.

He also instructed officials “to implement an action plan with inter-departmental coordination for road safety to prevent accidents”. In Auraiya, a bus driver along with two passengers were killed and nine others were injured when the bus rammed into a truck near Umrain on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway on Monday morning, the police said.

The accident took place when the truck jumped the divider on the expressway in order to save a car and the Lucknow-bound bus rammed into it due to poor visibility, said police.

In another accident on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, an Uttar Pradesh State Transport Corporation bus overturned near Bilhaur in Kanpur on Monday morning. During the accident, 18 people were injured, said ACP Bilhaur, Alok Singh.In Kannauj district, seven girl students were injured after their jeep was hit by a truck near Chibramau. The students were on way to a college to appear in an examination, Kannauj police said.

In Kanpur Dehat, two people were killed after their vehicle hit an electric pole on roadside and flipped, said Akbarpur police, adding that dense fog caused the accident. In Unnao, a truck laden with pipes overturned at Bangarmau, killing the driver and seriously injuring the cleaner.

Another truck collided with a dumper on Purwa-Dahi Chowki Road of Unnao district, injuring three people.

In Mainpuri, two villagers died on the spot when their tractor, along with a potato-laden trolley, fell off a culvert at Ballarpur under the Bichwan police station limits due to poor visibility, the police said. In Kasganj, two people died on the spot on Sunday night and another succumbed to injuries on Monday after their car broke through a railing and fell 50 feet below into the Kali river basin due to dense fog.

Meanwhile, there was a pile-up involving about a dozen vehicles on the National Highway-2 in Shikohabad area of Firozabad district due to poor visibility caused by dense fog. Four people were injured.