LUCKNOW: In a major road accident, at least seven persons, including six BTC (Basic Training Certificate) students, were killed and six others critically injured when they came under a speeding state roadways bus on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Taalgram area of Kannauj district in the wee hours of Monday.
Those were killed were identified as Mahesh Kumar Gupta, Mithilesh Kumar, Abhay Pratap Singh, Nikhilesh, Vishal Kumar, Jitendra Kumar Yadav and Satish, all BTC students of Prabha Devi Mahavidhyalaya Sant Kabir Nagar Khalilabad, and a teacher Vijay Kumar.
As per the sources, the driver of the State Road Transport Corporation bus fled the scene abandoning the vehicle at the accident site. The injured were admitted to the Tirwa Medical college, where condition of three others was stated to be critical.
The incident occurred when students had got own from heir own bus and were standing near it that suddenly a speeding SRTC bus the bus ran over them. In fact, the BTC students and teachers were on an educational tour to Haridwar-Rishikesh from Sant Kabir Nagar Khalilabad. Their bus on had run out of diesel and was parked on the roadside in Taalgram area for refuelling from another bus as there is no petrol pump on the expressway.
Additional superintendent of police Kannauj K C Goswami said that the killer roadways buswas impounded and search for its absconding driver was on. The bodies have been shifted to morgue for autopsy, ASP added.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed his deepest condolences and announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh each for the family of deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured in the accident.CM also directed officials to initiate FIR in the case and initiate investigation in this regard.