At least 18 individuals lost their lives, and 19 sustained injuries when a sleeper bus crashed into a milk tanker on the Lucknow-Agra expressway in Uttar Pradesh’s Unnao district on Wednesday morning. The tragic incident occurred close to Gadha village as the bus, en route from Bihar to Delhi, collided with the tanker while trying to overtake it. The force of the impact caused the bus to flip over. Reportedly, the bus was carrying predominantly migrant workers.
All the wounded individuals have been swiftly taken to nearby medical facilities for medical attention. Among the 19 injured, three are reported to be in critical condition.
Authorities have confirmed the identities of two deceased victims – Rajnish Kumar (26) and Mohd Shamim (28), both originally from Bihar. The process of identifying the remaining victims is currently ongoing.
The local authorities have launched a rescue operation. The Unnao administration has also issued helpline numbers – (0515-2970767, 9651432703, 9454417447, 8887713617, 8081211289).
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his sorrow over the tragic incident in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh. He announced a compensation of ₹2 lakh from PMNRF for the families of the deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured.
Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge expressed his sorrow over the loss of lives in the incident and extended his wishes for a quick recovery of the injured individuals. He also urged all the workers of the INDIA bloc parties to offer any possible assistance to the victims.
In a separate incident earlier this year, a speeding truck collided head-on with a bus in Unnao, resulting in the deaths of eight individuals and injuries to over 20 others. The tragic accident occurred near Jamaldipur village on Hardoi-Unnao Road in Safipur. The injured victims were promptly taken to Unnao district hospital and LLR Hospital in Kanpur.
The bus, which was carrying 35 passengers, had eight fatalities and 20 injuries as a result of the collision, as reported by the authorities.
Following the accident, the bus driver absconded while the truck driver was apprehended.
On a different note, in yet another incident, around 40 individuals, including school children, sustained injuries when the bus they were traveling in overturned in Haryana’s Panchkula district on Monday morning. The mishap occurred near Naulata village of Pinjore town. Police investigations revealed that the accident was due to the bus driver’s excessive speed. Moreover, the bus was overloaded beyond capacity, and poor road conditions were also contributing factors to the unfortunate incident.