Four separate road mishaps claimed over a dozen lives and left several others injured since Monday night.
In the first incident reported from Ishwarpur Khas village under Tahbarpur police station in Azamgarh, people taking part in a wedding anniversary celebration were crushed by a pick-up vehicle on Monday night, killing three people, including a father-son duo.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief at the incident and directed officials concerned to ensure adequate treatment to the injured. Police said that around 11 pm on Monday, a pick-up vehicle crushed people celebrating a wedding anniversary. The driver was said to be in a drunken state.
The deceased were identified as Hariram (45), his sons Angad (18), and Ramsamujh (17). The police sent the bodies for autopsy and started further investigation.
In another accident, a truck rammed a car on the Lucknow-Delhi highway near Lalpur outpost Ahiladpur under Izzat Nagar police station in Bareilly on Tuesday morning. Five occupants of the car died in the mishap. SSP Rohit Singh Sajwan said the deceased were the residents of Ramnagar in Uttarakhand and were on their way to Bilgram in Hardoi.
Around 3:30 am on Tuesday, one of the tyres of the car burst all of a sudden, after which the driver lost control of the vehicle and crossed over to the other side. It was later hit by a truck coming from the opposite direction.
The deceased were identified as Mohammed Saghir (35), Muzammil (36), Mohammed Tahir (40), Imran Khan (38) and Mohammed Farid (35).
In a similar incident in Kushinagar, a speeding bus rammed into a stationary truck on NH28 near Hata Kotwali. Four bus passengers died while 29 others were injured. The injured were admitted to a hospital where the condition of 10 was said to be critical.
The bus was going to Punjab with labourers from Madhepura district of Bihar. The labourers said the bus was being driven at a high speed and the driver lost control of the vehicle in the process. The bus rammed into the stationary truck around 2 am on Tuesday. The injured were rushed to the district hospital. SP Dhaval Jaiswal himself visited the hospital to ensure proper medical care to the injured.
Meanwhile, a car rammed into a moving truck on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway from behind in Kannauj on Tuesday afternoon. A High Court advocate died on the spot while two of his friends were injured.
The police reached the spot and sent the body for autopsy. The injured were rushed to a hospital. Reports said Suryabali, who was a High Court advocate and a resident of Mayur Road in Ashoknagar locality of Prayagraj, was going to Haridwar with his friends Prahlad Yadav and Vishwadeep Patel. As they reached near Saurikh, their car rammed into the truck from behind. Suryabali died on the spot.
Elsewhere in Auraiya, 25 passengers were injured in a collision between a roadways bus and a dumper on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway in Airwakatra area. The bus going to Jaipur from Bahraich with 56 passengers collided with a dumper at Mile No. 136 near Nagla Daulat village on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway on the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday.
Some of the injured were natives of Nepal. Airwa Katra police station chief Ramshay Patel reached the spot and sent the injured to hospitals.