Three school-going girl students were killed while a fourth was seriously injured when a speeding truck overturned after hitting a road divider in Cantonment police station area of Ayodhya on Friday morning.
The injured girl was admitted to the district hospital with serious injuries.
Expressing grief over the deaths, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the deceased girls and Rs 50,000 for the injured. He also directed officials to provide all help to the victims and their families.
As per reports, four girl students of Class 8 were headed to Arya Kanya Inter College situated on Ayodhya-Lucknow highway for attending classes on Friday morning. As they neared Mumtaz Nagar Mirzapur area in Ayodhya Cantonment police station area, a speeding truck laden with bags of onion, suddenly collided with a road divider and overturned. The ill-fated girls came under the truck and were crushed under its weight. Soon, locals and the police rushed to the scene of the accident and started a rescue operation. Cranes were called to lift the truck and extricate the trapped victims. But by the time they could be rescued, three of them had died while the fourth student was rushed to the district hospital in a serious condition.
She was later referred to KGMU Trauma Centre in Lucknow for specialised treatment.
As the tragic news of the death of these girls reached their homes, their friends, relatives and neighbours gathered at the scene and staged a protest. Later, the police sent the bodies for autopsy and seized the overturned truck. The police suspect that the driver probably took a turn at a high speed and lost control over the vehicle, resulting in the crash. The driver and cleaner of the truck were also arrested while a hunt was underway to nab a third person who was present in the cabin of the truck at the time of the accident.