UP: 6 dead, 21 injured as bus collides with truck
Six persons lost their lives while 21 sustained injuries after a private bus carrying 50 passengers on Agra-Lucknow Expressway overturned when a DCM truck collided with it in Uttar Pradesh's Firozabad district early Wednesday. The bus was headed from Ludhiana to Raebareli and the driver was reportedly drowsy when the accident occurred. The deceased include a child, a woman, and four men.
All injured persons are undergoing treatment
The bus has been removed from the site using a crane in Nagla Khangar area. Nine of the injured persons have been admitted to Shikohabad government hospital while the rest have been referred to Saifai medical college, as per local media reports. The bus went off the expressway and plunged into a farm after flipping multiple times.
Locals rescued passengers from the mangled bus
22 injured & six killed including a woman & a minor after a driver of a speeding bus lost control of the vehicle on Agra-Lucknow expressway & flipped several times before plunging into a farm field under Nagla Khangar police limits of #Firozabad.#UttarPradesh pic.twitter.com/o7u0amSi5L
— Arvind Chauhan (@Arv_Ind_Chauhan) December 14, 2022
UP CM expressed condolences to the kin of deceased
आज आगरा-लखनऊ एक्सप्रेस-वे पर सड़क दुर्घटना में हुई जनहानि अत्यंत दुःखद है।
— Yogi Adityanath (@myogiadityanath) December 14, 2022
अधिकारियों को राहत व बचाव कार्य युद्ध स्तर पर संचालित करने तथा घायलों के समुचित उपचार हेतु निर्देश दिए गए हैं।
प्रभु श्री राम दिवंगत आत्माओं को शांति तथा घायलों को शीघ्र स्वास्थ्य लाभ प्रदान करें।
Agra-Lucknow Expressway infamous for high number of crashes
The Agra-Lucknow Expressway, inaugurated in November 2016, is India's longest (302 km) access-controlled greenfield expressway on which Air Force jets can land and take off. It was constructed in a record 23 months. However, it's known for the alarming number of accidents, most due to over-speeding. Reports indicate Uttar Pradesh Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) drivers were fatigued and overworked.
Other accidents on the expressway
In June 2018, six students and a teacher were mowed down by a speeding bus on the six-lane Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Kannauj district's Tirwa. In August 2018, four persons had a close shave with death when their newly-bought SUV plunged into a 20 feet-deep ditch due to a portion of the Agra-Lucknow Expressway caving in near Dauki, Agra district.
Close to 2,000 accidents, 200 deaths in a year
According to the data from the UP Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA), 100 people were killed in 853 accidents on the expressway between August 2017 and March 2018, while as many as 91 people died in 1,113 accidents between April 2018 and December 2018.
