E-Paper
9 killed, 48 injured in fog-induced road accidents in Uttar Pradesh
Two women pilgrims of Punjab and Meerut died and over a dozen others were injured in two accidents in western UP, say police
LUCKNOW Nine people, including two students, died and about four dozen others were injured in separate fog-induced road accidents across Uttar Pradesh that occurred from the wee hours until morning on Wednesday, said police.
As per reports, two women pilgrims of Punjab and Meerut died and over a dozen others were injured in two accidents in western UP. The first incident took place on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway near Khekra in Baghpat district on Tuesday night.
The pilgrims were returning home from Vrindavan in a mini-bus when their ill-fated vehicle collided with a truck laden with wood near Khekra on the expressway due to low visibility amid thick fog. Seema, 44, and Mandeep, 38, died on the spot while more than a dozen pilgrims sustained injuries, said police.
The police admitted all the injured pilgrims to the district hospital of Baghpat and sent the bodies for post-mortem examination.
In another incident, BJP Mahanagar general secretary of Meerut, Rajkumar Sonkar, died after being hit by an unknown vehicle in dense fog near the Circuit House of Civil Lines police station area in Meerut. He had a fruits-vegetables business in Lohia Nagar market.
Sonkar, a resident of Kaseru Kheda, was going to Lohia Nagar Mandi on his scooter around 5am on Wednesday when a vehicle hit him and he died on the spot.
Civil Lines police reached the spot and sent the body for a post-mortem examination. Inspector, Civil Lines, Mahesh Rathore said investigation was underway.
In Unnao, a sleeper bus-container collision on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway led to a series of collisions involving two passenger buses on way to Delhi. One person died and 16 others were injured. Seven of the injured were said to be critical.
The deceased was identified as Vijay Singh, 40, of Gonda. He was travelling in the UPSTRC bus that rammed into a stationary truck as the driver could not see the vehicle parked on the roadside near Nisarpur village in Bangarmau. The accident had a ripple effect as two intercity buses and three other vehicles also rammed into each other.
Similarly, over 17 vehicles met with accidents on the Kanpur-Prayagraj highway near Khaga. A total of 11 people were injured and one person was killed on Hardoi-Sitapur highway, said police.
Meanwhile, four people, including an elderly woman, died and some others were injured in two mishaps in Handia area due to heavy fog on Wednesday morning.
In the first incident, two youths - Shivam Patel, 22, and Sugreev Patel, 23, of Rajapur in Soraon area died after their bike was crushed by two heavy vehicles near Handia toll plaza around 7am.
Police officials said the duo as going to Mirzapur on their bike to appear in an ‘O’ level computer examination. When they stopped behind a stationary container near a dhaba close to Handia toll plaza, a dumper coming from behind hit the container in the rear. The duo was crushed and declared brought dead at a nearby CHC.
An hour later, the second incident took place on Prayagraj-Varanasi highway near Upardaha village. Locals informed that a bus ferrying passengers stopped near Upardaha. When some passengers alighted and proceeded towards a nearby shop, an SUV coming from the direction of Varanasi hit them. A woman, Vibha Agarwal, 72, of Dehradun died while four others were injured in the mishap. SUV driver Rahul also sustained injuries in the incident and was declared brought dead at SRN Hospital.
The deceased woman and other passengers were pilgrims and were going to Varanasi from Dehradun.
