Tragedy hit the Holy City of Ayodhya (Faizabad) when the driver of speeding tanker lost control and crushed a dozen pilgrims sleeping on the pavement late on Monday night.
The injured were admitted to Faizabad district hospital from where two of them were referred to Trauma Centre in lucknow as their condition deteriorated.
As per reports, the driver of speeding tanker (HR38Q-8167) lost control over the wheels and jumped on the pavement crushing pilgrims who were sleeping there on Monday night. The pilgrims had coe to the Holy City for a darshan of Ram lalla at Shree Ram Janam Bhumi temple and also participate in the yearly Shrawan Mela.
Eyewitnesses said that force deployed in the mela area tried to intercept the vehicle but the driver managed speed off from the scene. The injured were immediately rushed to the district hospital where seven of them were declared dead upon arrival. They were identified as Shlok Kumari (42), Parmu Tewari (45), Gudiya Pandey (30), leela (48), Kishori Mishra, Uma Shankar Babban (40) and an unidentified 40-year-old woman.
Those shifted to Trauma Centre of KGMU, lucknow in critical condition were identified as Alok Pandey and Anirudh. A case in this connection was lodged againstthe errant driver by Narendra from Kanpur.
Meanwhile half a dozen others were killed in separate mishaps across the state in the last 24 hours.
As per reports from Bareilly, farmer lalbahadur (50) was killed after a Roadways bus of Mathura depot hit him on the Bareilly-Badaun highway near Fuli village on Tuesday morning. The victim was crossing the road with his wife when tragedy struck and caused instantaneous death. Police later arrested the bus driver and seized the vehicle.
In Ballia, two persons were killed and six others injured when a truck hit a van carrying passengers near Sinhavar village in Fefna area on Monday night.
Bablu (25) and Devnandan (30) died on the spot while half a dozen persons were injured in the mishap. They were shifted to a hospital where condition of two of them is stated to be `critical’. The truck driver managed to flee leaving behind the vehicle.
In the last incident, also from Ballia, three persons were killed when lightening struck them. As per reports, Gayatri (60), Doodnath (65) and Ramjanm Rajak died after being struck by lightning in different parts of the district on Monday evening.