Ghaziabad: 6 members of family killed as bus driving wrong way collides with SUV

The bus drove on the wrong side for about seven kilometres before colliding with the SUV on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway in Ghaziabad around 6am on Tuesday

Six members of a family on their way to a temple in Rajasthan from Meerut were killed and two others injured when their sport utility vehicle (SUV) collided head-on with a speeding bus driving the wrong way on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway in Ghaziabad on Tuesday.

Police said the bus driver has been arrested. (ANI)

Additional deputy police commissioner Ramanand Kushwaha said the bus had “on school duty” written in it but it was deployed for ferrying staff of a private company in Noida. He added the bus ferried students of a Noida school over a year back. “Although the bus was not of the school, it still has ‘on school duty’ marking on it and also mentioned the name of a private school in Noida.” He added this was a matter for further probe.

Kushwaha said the driver filled CNG at Ghazipur, Delhi, before driving the bus the wrong way on the expressway. He added once the bus entered the wrong lane, it could not have been stopped had the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) alerted them, triggering a blame game.

“We have traffic police on duty at various points on the expressway. If the NHAI had alerted us from their monitoring control room, we could have taken action immediately to stop the bus. But there was no such alert.”

NHAI officials, who were not authorised to speak to the media, said their patrolling vehicles were deployed but must have been at some other location at the time of the accident. “We have video evidence that the bus entered the wrong lane from Indirapuram and not Ghazipur in Delhi. The traffic police on duty at Indirapuram should have stopped the vehicle from entering the wrong side. The vehicle drove on the wrong side for about seven kilometres before colliding with the vehicle.”

Transport enforcement department (Noida) officials said that the bus possibly took the wrong lane due to diversions related to Kanwar Yatra, the annual pilgrimage of Shiva devotees to fetch the holy waters of the Ganga.

“Many bigger vehicles have strayed on different routes due to Kanwar Yatra diversions. The police have initiated action and we will also take suitable action. We conduct regular drives to trace the erring vehicles and launch another drive against such vehicles,” said additional regional transport officer (Noida) Deepak Shah.

He cited their records and said the fitness, insurance, and other documents of the bus were valid. “There are instances when such buses ferry school children and even staff of factories and companies simultaneously.”

NHAI officials said the bus was driven at a speed of 90-100 km per hour and the SUV was also in the same speed range.

Kushwaha said a first information report was being registered and the bus driver, who has been arrested, has also been fined ₹2000 for entering the wrong lane. Kushwaha said the bus driver was entirely at fault. “Two men, two women, and two children died in the accident. The school bus has a Noida registration number,” he said.

He added that the two injured people aged eight and 36 were undergoing treatment for severe injuries and that eight were in the SUV.

Sanjay Yadav, a family member of those killed in the accident, said his two cousins with their families were in the SUV. “One of my cousins, his wife, and their two sons died in the accident. His entire family was killed. The daughter and wife of another cousin, who survived along with his son, were also killed. The two are under treatment.”

Yadav said the eight left Meerut around 4am for Khatu Shyam Temple in Rajastahn’s Sikar. “They were to have breakfast at the house of a relative in Gurugram. Some of their family members from Gurugram were also to accompany them to the Khatu Shyam Temple.”

A video of the incident showed the bus ramming into the SUV even as its driver tried to evade it.