NEW DELHI: This winter dense fog has once again emerged as a lethal hazard on Indian roads, producing dozens of accidents, causing more than 35 fatalities and scores of injuries across northern states, particularly in the National Capital Region, since November 2025.
The worst of these accidents took place on the Yamuna Expressway near Mathura on December 16 last year that killed at least 17 and injured 89 people. It involved a pile-up of buses, cars, and trucks, which collided one after the other in thick mist. Some of these vehicles even caught fire.
Like Delhi, western Uttar Pradesh sees heavy fog in late December and January, which makes it unsurprising that most fatalities are reported in this region. In Delhi’s north, Punjab regularly reports heavy fog days that cause considerable discomfort to motorists.
Two fatal crashes in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab took place earlier this week. A head-on motorcycle collision in Etah killed three and injured two on Monday, while a car-bus collision in Hoshiarpur took four lives. The Punjab crash took place in the early hours of Saturday.
14000 deaths every year
Govt data for 2022–23 shows foggy conditions accounted for over 30,000 accidents in each of these years, causing over 14,000 deaths.