Lucknow: Eighteen people died, and 13 sustained injuries in five separate accidents between Friday evening and Saturday noon across western Uttar Pradesh.
The first accident took place in Hathras district on Friday evening when a speeding car from Aligarh to Agra collided with a motorcycle, claiming the lives of Veerpal (40), his son Anshu (13), and nephew Aman (19). The trio was en route from Rajnagar village to Mahmudpur Barsai to celebrate a pre-wedding banquet. While Veerpal and Anshu lived in Rajnagar in the Kotwali Chandpa area, and Aman was a resident of Mahmudpur Barsai.
Police arrived at the spot and transported all three victims to the hospital, where they were declared dead. The police have sent the bodies for postmortem and initiated an investigation into the matter.
Chandapa SHO Sunita Mishra said, “A case has been registered against the unidentified driver. The car has been seized, and police teams are actively searching for the fleeing driver. Further investigation is underway, and appropriate action will be taken accordingly.”
Meanwhile, in another accident on Saturday afternoon, five individuals, including a woman, died, and one passenger was critically injured when a speeding truck collided with an auto-rickshaw on the Agra-Delhi Highway (NH-19) under the Sikandra police station limits. The incident caused a 2 km traffic jam on the national highway.
In yet another accident in Aligarh district, Gopal Singh (35), a teacher, lost his life, and eight others sustained injuries after their car collided with another vehicle near Mohsanpur village under Atrauli police station in Aligarh.
In another road mishap on Saturday morning, two cars collided head-on along National Highway-9 in Hapur, leaving three people dead and four injured. The victims were identified as Saroj (63) and Ramkinoni (65), residents of Pilkhuwa, and Abhishek Verma (22) from Garh Mukteshwar.
SHO Sumit Tomar said Abhishek was driving alone from Garh Mukteshwar, while the deceased women were on their way to Garh Mukteshwar with their family for a dip in the Ganga. Abhishek lost control, hit the divider, and collided with another car after his vehicle veered into the opposite lane. No complaint has been filed yet, and no FIR has been registered. The bodies have been sent for postmortem, and further actions will follow.
Meanwhile, six people, including two women and a nine-year-old boy, died when a speeding truck collided with an auto-rickshaw near Gurudwara Guru Ka Taal crossing in Agra on the Agra-Delhi National Highway around 3:15 pm on Saturday. Police said five of the victims were traveling in the auto-rickshaw.
The deceased were identified as Monika Verma (27), Prem Kishore (22), Sunil Kumar (35), Rekha Sharma (60), and her grandson Atharv Sharma (9). The driver of the auto-rickshaw Bacchu Singh (45) also lost his life, police said. The truck driver that hit the auto-rickshaw fled from the spot.
Police said the bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination. There were six people in the auto-rickshaw, Five died on the spot. One of the passengers died under treatment at the hospital. The driver of the truck with the Punjab registration number fled from the spot. CCTV cameras in the area are being examined to ascertain the actual cause of the incident.”
