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Eight killed, 23 injured as Kheri labourers’ pickup crashes in M.P’s Bhind
The labourers were returning home to Lakhimpur Kheri after completing a fortnight-long contract to plant paddy saplings in Chinaur village of Bhind district. Five of the deceased were from Bela Tursiya village, while the others were from Kishanpur Ajit and Harnaiya Narayanpur villages in Kheri and Shahjahanpur district.
At least eight labourers from Lakhimpur Kheri district were killed and 23 others injured after a speeding pickup van carrying them collided head-on with an incoming truck in Madhya Pradesh’s Bhind district early Tuesday, police said.
The labourers were returning home to Lakhimpur Kheri after completing a fortnight-long contract to plant paddy saplings in Chinaur village of Bhind district. Five of the deceased were from Bela Tursiya village, while the others were from Kishanpur Ajit and Harnaiya Narayanpur villages in Kheri and Shahjahanpur district.
The accident took place near Chhimka village under Gohad Chauraha police station limits on the Bhind-Gwalior National Highway (NH-719) when the pickup driver allegedly tried to avoid cattle on the highway, police said. Five labourers died on the spot, while three others succumbed to their injuries while being taken to Gwalior for treatment.
Ram Naresh Yadav, in-charge of Gohad Chauraha police station, said police rushed to the spot after receiving information and rescued the victims. He said details of the casualties and injured were shared with Kheri police after it emerged that most of the victims belonged to the district.
Kheri senior superintendent of police (SSP) Khyati Garg said eight people were killed and 23 injured in the accident. “The deceased were identified as Updesh, 22, Amar Singh, 20, Sukhdev, 50, Rajnish, 30, and Bhure Lal, 20, all from Bela Tursiya; Guddu, 59, of Kishanpur Ajit; Subhash, 30, of Harnaiya Narayanpur; and Madan Pal, 32, of Shahjahanpur district,” she said.
Among the 23 injured, 20 are from Kheri district, including 11 from Bela Tursiya village, six from the Pasgawan area and two from Mohammadi. The pickup van driver, Pawan, 25, and truck driver Mahesh, 43, both from Madhya Pradesh, were also injured and admitted to the district hospital.
Arun Kumar, tehsildar Mohammadi, said he and other officials visited Bela Tursiya, Kishanpur Ajit and other villages to meet the grieving families and collect details. He said some family members had already left for Bhind and Gwalior after receiving information that the injured were undergoing treatment there.
Livelihood trip ends in tragedy
The labourers had travelled to Madhya Pradesh for work to earn higher wages through paddy plantation, which they had undertaken in the past.
Maya Devi of Kishanpur Ajit, whose husband Guddu died in the accident while her son Ranjit and brother-in-law Ram Das were injured, said Guddu and Ranjit had gone to earn money as the marriage of her second daughter was to be finalised. She said her husband had called home a day earlier to say he would return with the money.
In Bela Tursiya, Kanchan Lal lost his sons Sukhdev and Rajnish, while his other sons Sompal and Ramakant and grandson Pinku alias Jay Karan were injured. Family members said they had travelled to Madhya Pradesh to earn money to complete their under-construction house and build a concrete roof.
