E-Paper
9 killed, 30 injured in separate fog-induced road accidents in UP
Two students who were going for examinations, two women pilgrims from Punjab, a local functionary of the Bhartiya Janata Party were among the dead in these mishaps caused by low visibility
LUCKNOW: Nine persons, including two students, died and about 30 others were injured in separate fog-induced road accidents across Uttar Pradesh that occurred from the wee hours until morning on Wednesday, police said.
Two students who were going for examinations, two women pilgrims from Punjab, a local functionary of the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) were among the dead in these mishaps caused by low visibility.
The women pilgrims were returning to their homes from Vrindavan in a minibus which collided with a truck near Khekra on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway in the wee hours in Baghpat district of western Uttar Pradesh. Eyewitnesses said the accident occurred due to low visibility caused by dense fog. The victims were identified as Seema, 44 and Mandeep, 38 while more than a dozen pilgrims sustained injuries.
“The accident was due to low visibility,” said Manisha, who hails from Balachaur in Punjab and was travelling by the ill-fated bus.
In a separate incident, a local BJP functionary Rajkumar Sonkar died after an unknown vehicle hit the scooter on which he was travelling near the Circuit House of the Civil Lines police station area. He died on the spot. This road mishap was also attributed to fog-induced low visibility. In Prayagraj, two youngsters who were going to give their examinations died after their bike got crushed between a dumper and a truck near Handia Toll plaza, another fog-induced casualty.
On the Agra-Firozabad highway, a vehicle carrying chickens met with an accident near the Jharna Nala area. A truck driver identified as Umesh Yadav died in the mishap while around half a dozen people were injured, station house officer, trans Yamuna police station, Sunmesh Kumar told HT. A video of people looting chickens from the ill-fated truck went viral on social media.
In Unnao, three passenger buses rammed into each other leaving several injured. Police said the total number of people injured in road mishaps on Wednesday would be around 30.
On the Yamuna Express Way, vehicles crawled at slow speed on Wednesday as dense fog covered the 165-km-long road connecting Agra and NOIDA. To avoid any pile up of vehicles, slow moving vehicles including auto rickshaws, tractor trolleys were not allowed at entry points of the expressway.
“Speed limit has been already bought down to 75 km for light vehicles since December 15 and the restriction is to continue till February 15 subject to weather condition and if fog continues, the limit for speed of light vehicles will continue to be 75 km/hour and 60 km/hour for heavy vehicles on Agra NOIDA Yamuna Express Way. The routine speed is 100 km/hour,” said Lokendra Singh Chaudhary, control room officer at Khandoli Toll Plaza in Agra. He said that a 15-day campaign on road safety has started from December 15.
