12 dead, 11 injured as gravel-laden truck overturns on bus in UP’s Shahjahanpur
Police said a speeding gravel-laden dumper truck overturned on a stationery bus that was carrying pilgrims to a temple in Uttarakhand on Saturday night
Twelve people, who were headed to a temple in Uttarakhand, were killed when a speeding gravel-laden dumper truck overturned on their stationary bus after a collision in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur late on Saturday night, police officials said.
Among the dead were three minors and eight women. Eleven others were critically injured in the accident.
Shahjahanpur superintendent of police (SP) Ashok Kumar Meena said the accident occurred around 11.30pm when the bus had stopped at a roadside eatery near Hajiyapur village under the Khutar police station area. The bus was on its way to Purnagiri temple in Champawat district of Uttarakhand.
Pankaj Kumar, an eyewitness, said most of the passengers had alighted from the bus. Twenty-five people were still inside the bus when the speeding truck hit it, he added.
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The SP said the deceased were identified by police as Sudhanshu (7), Aditya (8), Ajeet (14), Suman Devi (36), Rohini (20), Chutaki (50), Seema (30), Sonwati (45), Brinda (50), Ram Gopal (48), Shiv Shankar (48) and Pramod (30) and their bodies have been sent for postmortem examinations.
Ritwik (7), Mistri (7), Avantika (10), Vikas (13), Himanshu (14), Lallu (60), Kailash (48), Bal Krishna (30), Ram Das (38), Maharani (36) and Bitto (25) were injured and undergoing treatment at the Shahjahanpur Medical College.
Another police official said the deceased and injured were from Sitapur’s Badajatha village.
Ajeet’s father Rupesh said he had collected ₹550 each from 83 people and booked a bus for their pilgrimage to Purnagiri.
He said while he, his wife and daughter were having food at the eatery, his son had gone to the bus for a bag when the truck collided with it. Rupesh said his son was buried under the gravel and his body could be pulled out after two hours.
The SP said the rescue operation lasted for over five hours till 4.30am. He said an earthmover had to be deployed to separate the truck and the bus. He said some passengers were buried under the gravel.
He said the district administration informed the family members of the deceased and the injured about the accident and initiated the process for ex gratia to them.
Prez grieves loss of lives
President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday grieved the loss of lives in the accident and expressed condolences to the beraeaved families.
“The news of the death of several people in a road accident in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is very sad. I express my condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured,” she said in a post on X in Hindi.
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