At least 18 people died, and 19 were injured as a sleeper bus rammed into a milk tanker on the Lucknow-Agra expressway in Uttar Pradesh's Unnao district on Wednesday morning.
The incident took place near Gadha village when the bus travelling from Bihar to Delhi collided with the tanker while attempting to overtake. The impact of the collision caused the bus to overturn.
According to officials, the bus was carrying mostly migrant workers.
All the injured persons have been rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment. Out of the 19 people, three are said to be in a critical condition.
The authorities have identified two deceased victims - Rajnish Kumar (26) and Mohd Shamim (28), both hailing from Bihar. The process of identification of other victims is underway.
The local authorities have launched a rescue operation. The Unnao administration has also issued helpline numbers - (0515-2970767, 9651432703, 9454417447, 8887713617, 8081211289).
Meanwhile, Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge condoled the loss of lives in the incident and wished for a speedy recovery of the injured people. He also appealed to all the workers of the INDIA bloc parties to provide all possible help to the victims.
“The news of the death of 18 people in a tragic road accident on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway in Unnao, UP is very sad. We express our deepest condolences to the bereaved families of the victims. We wish for the speedy recovery of all those injured in the accident. The administration is requested not to leave any stone unturned in helping the victims,” Kharge wrote on X.
In another incident earlier this year, eight people were killed and over 20 others were injured when a speeding truck collided head-on with a bus, ripping through one of its sides, in Unnao in April. The accident took place near Jamaldipur village on Hardoi-Unnao Road in Safipur. The injured were admitted to the Unnao district hospital and LLR Hospital in Kanpur.
According to the police, the bus was carrying 35 passengers, eight of whom were killed and 20 others got injured in the accident.
While the bus driver fled after the accident, the truck driver was arrested.
Meanwhile, in another incident, at least 40 people, including several school children, were injured after a bus in which they were travelling overturned in Haryana's Panchkula district on Monday morning. The incident took place near Naulata village of Pinjore town. According to the police, the accident was caused due to overspeeding by the bus driver. Along with this, since the bus was filled beyond its capacity with passengers, overloading and poor road conditions have also been attributed as additional reasons for the accident.
