Two persons were killed and forty, including six British tourists, were injured in a massive pile-up of 27 vehicles triggered by dense fog, at the Yamuna Expressway Wednesday morning. The accident led to another pile-up on the opposite lane, police said.
“Pile-ups occurred on both sides of the Yamuna Expressway, before the Jewar toll plaza at around 9am. First, a truck hit a Chevrolet Tavera from behind due to dense fog on the Agra-Noida route. Several other vehicles coming from behind rammed each other, creating a massive pile-up,” said SK Yadav, station officer, Jewar police station.
The second accident occurred when motorists on the opposite lane stopped to watch the pile-up, triggering another one on the Noida-Agra lane, he added.
The deceased were identified as RM Sinha and AK Das, both employees of Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL). Another BHEL employee, Shweta Singh, was critically injured.
Driver of the BHEL vehicle, Pradeep, was also admitted to a private hospital. He said visibility was almost zero when the incident occurred. “We were travelling towards Agra when I spotted the pile-up. I immediately applied the brakes. Then I reversed my car to overtake the stationary vehicles but a speeding bus hit us from behind, killing both occupants of the back seat,” Pradeep said.
{{/usCountry}}Driver of the BHEL vehicle, Pradeep, was also admitted to a private hospital. He said visibility was almost zero when the incident occurred. “We were travelling towards Agra when I spotted the pile-up. I immediately applied the brakes. Then I reversed my car to overtake the stationary vehicles but a speeding bus hit us from behind, killing both occupants of the back seat,” Pradeep said.
{{/usCountry}}According to him, rescue workers took more than an hour to bring them to the hospital to avoid more accidents in the fog.
“A platoon of provincial action constabulary rushed to the spot to prevent further accidents but by then the damage was done. The accident occurred due to less visibility,” said Preetinder Singh, senior superintendent of police, Gautam Budh Nagar.
The injured were rushed to Kailash Hospital and Jaypee Hospital in Greater Noida.
Staff at the Jaypee Hospital confirmed that six British tourists, identified as Jack, Michel, Cathleen, Helen, Sobaran Singh and Surendra Kaur were brought in with minor injuries and discharged after primary treatment. Singh and Kaur are NRIs.