LUCKNOW: At least 16 persons were killed and 31 were injured when a private bus in which they were travelling in collided with a stationary truck under Firozabad district limits on Lucknow-Agra Expressway late on Wednesday night.
The bus, carrying around 55 passengers, was on its way to Motihari district in Bihar. The injured were immediately rushed to the nearby Saifai Medical College in Etawah district.
As per the eyewitness account, the truck driver parked his vehicle on the extreme right side lane of the expressway to change one of the punctured tyres. In the meantime, the private bus collided with it from behind.
On getting the information about the mishap, senior police and district administration officers, including ADG Agra zone Ajay Anand, IG Agra Range Satish Ganesh, SP, Firozabad, Sachindra Patel and Firozabad DM Chandra Vijay Singh rushed to the spot to oversee the relief and rescue operation.
Those who lost life in the mishap were identified as Mukesh Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Kalamuddin, Bhagwan Chaudhary, Harindra Paswan, Bhoora (the truck driver), Chandan Mahto, Nageshwar Shah, Gulshan Kumar, Anil Shah, Rakesh Kumar Chandhan. Two of the deceased are yet to be identified.
The toll may further go up as six of the 31 injured passengers were stated to be critical. “At least 31 people were injured in the accident and are undergoing treatment here. Thirteen were brought dead,” Dr Vishwa Deepak of Emergency Ward said.
According to sources, as the UP Expressway and Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) patrolling team was on the move on the stretch of expressway where the accident took place, they immediately extended help to the affected bus passengers.
"It took us hours to extricate the bodies of the deceased and rescue the injured from the mangled bus. Many victims were hanging from windows, said one of UPEIDA team members.
As per a senior police official, under the impact of the collision, the bus was crushed to half. “The sleeper double-decker bus was coming from Delhi and was headed to Motihari," he said.