LUCKNOW: At least 10 people were killed after a four-wheeler collided with a truck on Monday morning in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district, police said.
According to police sources, all the victims were travelling in a Magic vehicle. Nine people died on the spot, while one succumbed to injuries on the way to hospital. The deceased included a government school teacher and an engineer.
The accident took place near Adlispur village on the Pilibhit-Basti Highway, around 40 km from the district headquarters.
Local residents said the Magic vehicle was travelling from Lakhimpur Kheri to Sisaiya when it collided head-on with a speeding truck coming from Bahraich. The truck driver fled the scene after the crash.
The impact of the collision was severe, leaving several passengers trapped between the seats with fatal head injuries. Two passengers were thrown onto the road.
Locals informed the police, who later sent the bodies for post-mortem examination.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of lives in the accident and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to those injured.
"Deeply pained to hear about a mishap in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh. My condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. May the injured recover at the earliest. An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs 50,000," Modi said in a post on X.
Khamaria Circle Officer Shamsher Bahadur Singh said the truck, bearing registration number UP 14 HT 5176, is registered in the name of Sher Singh, a resident of Nagla Faridpur in Bareilly.
Police said the truck, carrying sacks of rice polish and displaying a Ghaziabad number plate, has been seized and a search has been launched for the absconding driver.
CHC Khamaria superintendent Dr Amit Kumar Singh said the bodies of two women and seven men were brought to the hospital after the accident, with several bodies badly crushed. One critically injured man referred to the district hospital later died on the way.
Local sources said the condition of the Magic vehicle suggested its driver may have been attempting to overtake another vehicle when the collision occurred.
Police identified nine of the victims, including brothers Pawan (23) and Sohan (21), residents of Moorteeha village in Bahraich. Adnan (15), a resident of Sisaiya village in Dhaurahara area of Kheri district, was also among the deceased.
Other victims included Pappu (18) from Devdattpur in Bahraich, Shahzad (35) from Kakraha Moorteeha in Bahraich and Julekha (55) from Dhaurahara in Kheri district. The identity of one victim is yet to be confirmed.
Among the deceased was Gayatri (44), a resident of Vijay Lakshmi Nagar in Sitapur, who worked as a government school teacher in Mihimpurwa, Bahraich.
Another victim, Jaiveer Singh (25) from Man Gothiya village in Bahraich, worked as an engineer with a power company in Mumbai and had recently secured a new job in Qatar.
Rajesh Goyal (54), a trader dealing in ghee, oil and sugar from Mihimpurwa in Bahraich, was returning home after visiting his brother-in-law in Lakhimpur when the accident occurred.
