In a devastating accident early on Saturday morning, four people, including a pregnant woman, lost their lives and two others sustained serious injuries when a gravel-laden truck overturned onto an ambulance on the Ahraura-Varanasi Shakti Nagar Road near an overbridge. The tragic incident took place when an ambulance, carrying a pregnant woman who had been referred from Lodhi Hospital in Sonbhadra to a hospital in Varanasi, was passing through the area.
Along with the pregnant woman, three of her family members were accompanying her in the ambulance. The vehicle was being driven by a professional ambulance driver, who was assisted by a colleague.
According to police sources, a truck transporting gravel from a crusher plant in Sonbhadra towards Varanasi was moving at a high speed. As the truck approached the overbridge, the driver lost control of the vehicle. The truck overturned and crashed directly onto the ambulance, crushing it under the heavy load of gravel.
The force of the impact was so severe that all the occupants of the ambulance were trapped under the debris. Eyewitnesses quickly alerted the local authorities. Police teams, along with rescue units, reached the accident site and immediately launched a relief and rescue operation. Heavy machinery, including JCB earthmovers and Poklen excavators, were pressed into service to remove the debris and extract the victims. Sadly, four people died on the spot. The deceased have been identified as Heerawati Devi (25), the pregnant woman and a resident of Kanhara village under Obra police station limits; Malti Devi (40), a resident of Jugail in Sonbhadra; Suraj Bali Kharwar (27), also from Kanhara; and Ramu, whose full address was not immediately available. Two other passengers — Kaushal Kumar Kharwar alias Bhailal, a resident of Kanhara, and Bhandari Sharma, a resident of Santnagar Gurma under Robertsganj police station area — were rescued from the rubble with serious injuries. They were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital for urgent medical treatment.
The driver of the truck fled the scene following the accident. Police have launched a manhunt to apprehend him and have begun a thorough investigation to ascertain the circumstances leading to the mishap.