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Kannauj accident death toll rises to 11
Initial findings have revealed that the bus, which had a valid permit till 2020, had nitrogen-filled tyres to avert tyre burst, police said. After the collision, the fuel tank of the truck first caught fire and it spread quickly to the bus through the tyres because of the nitrogen, said officials.
The death toll in the Kannauj road tragedy rose to 11 on Saturday after the driver of the private double-decker bus, which caught fire after colliding with a truck late on Friday night, succumbed to his injuries, officials said. The bodies of nine passengers and the truck driver were pulled out on Saturday morning from the wreckage of the two vehicles, the officials said.
Inspector general (IG), Kanpur range, Mohit Agarwal said the bus suffered extensive damage from the inside. “The bodies were badly burnt and bones scattered inside the bus. Only DNA test can help in determining the identities of the victims,” he said. “It looks like there were about 47 passengers in the bus at the time of the accident; we are trying to get the exact number,” said Agarwal.
A forensic team worked through Friday night and confirmed early on Saturday that about nine bodies were found inside the bus. Later, the charred body of the truck driver, identified as Ajay Yadav alias Rinku of Mainpuri, was also taken out from the truck wreckage. He was taking his truck to Chhattisgarh for delivery of goods. The bus driver, identified as Shoaib, who was admitted to a Farrukhabad hospital, 30 km from the accident spot, died on Saturday.
The private sleeper bus, run by Vimal Bus Service, was carrying passengers from at least three places — Farrukhabad, Gursahaiganj and Chhibramau. The police said they were in the process of filing a case against the owner of the bus company. “The charred remains have shrunk so much that they have been packed in small packets and sent for post mortem examination,” said station house officer , Chhibramau, Shailendra Mishra.
Initial findings have revealed that the bus, which had a valid permit till 2020, had nitrogen-filled tyres to avert tyre burst, police said. After the collision, the fuel tank of the truck first caught fire and it spread quickly to the bus through the tyres because of the nitrogen, said officials.
According to Kannauj health department, 38 passengers were treated at the hospital in Chhibramau — 27 were admitted in Chhibramau and Tirwa Medical College and rest were discharged following primary treatment. Those who survived were seriously hurt in the process of being taken out from the bus and few have burn injuries, said Dr Dileep Singh of the medical college.
During the day, three families came forward to claim that eight of their relatives were missing.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi expressed condolences to the families of the deceased. Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also expressed grief over the deaths and called for all possible help for the affected families.
All lives that were lost could have been saved had the BJP government not shut down the fire station near the accident spot, said Samajwadi Party national president Akhilesh Yadav.
On Friday night, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had announced an ex gratia of ₹2 lakh to the next of the kin of the deceased and ₹50,000 each to the injured.
“What is happening is that hundreds of private buses with contract carriage are operating as stage carriage on nationalised routes,” said people familiar with the matter.
Under the Motor Vehicle act, a vehicle with a contract carriage permit carries passengers from one point to another without stopping to pick up or set down passengers not included in the contract. This bus, however, had passengers boarding from different locations against tickets issued individually to them for different destinations—something only a stage carriage is permitted to do.
