Six people, including a woman, were burnt alive after their car crashed into a highway divider and an electricity pole before catching fire on the Panipat-Khatima National Highway in Muzaffarnagar in the early hours of Monday, officials said.
Additional SP (Rural) Akshay Sanjay Mahadik said Titawi police received information at 4.50 am that a car had rammed into a divider and an electricity pole on the flyover beyond Jaggahedi toll plaza and caught fire. Police, fire brigade personnel and a forensic science laboratory (FSL) team rushed to the spot and brought the blaze under control.
Mahadik said six people travelling in the car were burnt alive and efforts were underway to establish their identities.
The victims, believed to be residents of Haryana’s Jind district, were travelling towards Haridwar when the accident occurred. The accident site is around 25 km from the Muzaffarnagar district headquarters.
According to preliminary information and eyewitness accounts, the car was travelling at an estimated speed of 120 kmph when the driver apparently lost control. It first rammed into an electricity pole, breaking it into two pieces, before crashing through nearly 10 metres of the divider and overturning on the opposite carriageway.
The impact triggered a fire that quickly engulfed the vehicle. Passers-by alerted the police through emergency helpline 112, while police and fire brigade personnel battled the blaze for nearly an hour before bringing it under control.
{{/usCountry}}The impact triggered a fire that quickly engulfed the vehicle. Passers-by alerted the police through emergency helpline 112, while police and fire brigade personnel battled the blaze for nearly an hour before bringing it under control.
{{/usCountry}}By the time rescuers accessed the vehicle, all six occupants had died. Their bodies were extensively charred, leaving identification difficult. The remains were sent for post-mortem examination.
The accident triggered a long traffic jam on the highway as crowds gathered at the spot and emergency teams carried out rescue and firefighting operations.
Police said they were trying to establish the identities of the deceased through the vehicle’s registration details and other available records. The exact circumstances leading to the driver losing control and the cause of the fire are yet to be established.