An early-morning accident on the Prayagraj–Gorakhpur National Highway claimed the life of an 11-year-old boy and left five others critically injured when a speeding pickup truck ran over the child and collided with a parked car.
The group had stopped at the roadside for tea and snacks before the tragedy, police said.
According to officials, the incident occurred around 4.30 am on Saturday near Shuklana locality, just before the ROB in the Nagar Panchayat area, under Phulpur police station jurisdiction.
A family from Jaunpur had traveled to Prayagraj on Friday night to attend an engagement ceremony at a hotel in Civil Lines and were returning home early Saturday when the accident took place.
After briefly parking their car on the highway for refreshments, the group was about to re-enter the vehicle when a speeding, vegetable-laden pickup truck approached from the Phulpur bus stand side. The truck struck the boy and the car before crashing into a roadside pole with such force that the pole fell.
Eleven-year-old Priyank Srivastava, son of Pradeep Srivastava of Kasnahee village under Sikrara police station of Jaunpur, was killed instantly. Five others sustained serious injuries: Girish Chandra Srivastava (65), Pradeep Srivastava (50), Vinod Kumar Yadav (42), all from Kasnahee, Jaunpur, as well as Vipin Gautam (25) of Adhirpur, Azamgarh, and Vivek Kumar (20) of Saidpur, Jaunpur, SHO Praveen Kumar Gautam said.
{{/usCountry}}Eleven-year-old Priyank Srivastava, son of Pradeep Srivastava of Kasnahee village under Sikrara police station of Jaunpur, was killed instantly. Five others sustained serious injuries: Girish Chandra Srivastava (65), Pradeep Srivastava (50), Vinod Kumar Yadav (42), all from Kasnahee, Jaunpur, as well as Vipin Gautam (25) of Adhirpur, Azamgarh, and Vivek Kumar (20) of Saidpur, Jaunpur, SHO Praveen Kumar Gautam said.
{{/usCountry}}A police team promptly reached the site and rushed the injured to the Community Health Centre (CHC). Doctors declared Priyank dead on arrival and referred the others to SRN Hospital for further treatment. The boy’s body has been sent for post-mortem, while the pickup driver remains at large.