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Bus, truck drivers among 11 dead in UP accident
Survivors said the private sleeper bus, run by Vimal Bus Service, was on the wrong side when it collided with a truck carrying plastic toys near Ghiloi village.
The driver of the private bus, which caught fire after colliding with a truck in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj district on Friday, succumbed to his injuries on Saturday taking the death toll in the accident to 11, officials said.
The bodies of nine passengers and the truck driver were pulled out in the morning from the wreckage of the double-decker bus, they said.
The bus driver, they said, had managed to reach Farrukhabad, 30km from the accident spot, and got himself admitted to a private hospital where died.
Many of the bodies were burned beyond recognition after the fire swept through the bus following the accident, police said. They added that 13 survivors have been taken to a hospital.
“The bodies are badly burned and their bones are scattered inside the bus. So only a DNA test will determine the death toll,” inspector general (Kanpur range) Mohit Agarwal said.
The private sleeper bus, run by Vimal Bus Service, was carrying at least 45 people and headed to Rajasthan’s Jaipur from Farrukhabad via Chhibramau.
Police said 25 people had boarded the bus from Gursahaigunj in Farukhabad and some people got on from Chhibramau but their number is not clear.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the deaths of the passengers.
“I am deeply saddened by the horrific road accident in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj. Many people have lost their lives in the accident. I express my condolence to the relatives of the dead and wish the injured get well soon,” he tweeted in Hindi on Saturday morning.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also took to Twitter to express his condolences.
“I am deeply saddened by the horrific road accident in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj. Many people have lost their lives in the accident. I express my condolence to the relatives of the dead and wish the injured get well soon,” Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.
Survivors said the bus was on the wrong side when it collided with a truck carrying plastic toys near Ghiloi village. The fuel tank of the bus burst after the collision as the fire spread through the structure.
“The driver didn’t open the doors of the bus and many people came out by breaking the windows,” Neeraj, a survivor, said.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath also expressed his condolence and announced Rs 2 lakh as compensation for each passenger killed in the accident and Rs 50,000 each for those grievously injured.
Seventeen people were killed on June 17 last year in Mainpuri after a bus operated by Vimal Service met with an accident.
