LUCKNOW: Revelry turned into tragedy when 14 people, including six children, of a wedding party were killed and a few others injured when the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a parked truck on the Prayagraj-Lucknow highway late on Thursday night. The accident took place under Manikpur police station of Pratapgarh district.
UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the road accident and directed senior officials to reach the spot and ensure rescue and relief work on a war footing. He also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those who lost their lives in the accident. “Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announces a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to next of the kin of the deceased, who lost their lives in the Pratapgarh road accident,” said Pratapgarh DM Rupesh Kumar on Friday.
According to Pratapgarh’s superintendent of police, Anurag Arya, an initial probe suggested that the accident took place when the SUV driver failed to spot the stationary truck and collided with it from behind on the highway near Deshraj Ka Inara village. Sources claimed that the SUV driver dozed off losing control over the wheel before colliding with the stationary truck.
Passengers trapped in the SUV were taken out by using a gas cutter and moved to the community health centre (CHC) in Kunda where the 14 of them were declared dead upon arrival. The dead included women and children, said the SP.
Those who died in the mishap included Dayaram (40), Dinesh Kumar (40), Pawan Kumar (10), Ramsamujh (40), Ansh (9), Gaurav Kumar (10), Aman (7), Naan Bhaiya (55), Mithilesh Kumar (17), Sachin (12), Himanshu (12), Abhimanyu (28), Parasnath (40) and the SUV driver Bablu (22).
Twelve of the deceased were from Jigrapur village while two along with driver were from another village, police added. They had gone to attend a wedding at Shekhpur village in Nawabganj area and were coming back when the accident took place. Locals said the SUV was badly damaged in the collision and police faced difficulties in the rescue operations due to darkness. The incident caused grief in the village of the deceased and a large number of their relatives and other villagers assembled at the Kunda community health centre.