UP: Nine killed in tempo-truck collision in Chitrakoot district

The students, all girls, were returning home on a tempo and when the vehicle reached near Sucheta colony it collided with a mini truck coming from the opposite direction, Circle Officer(CO), Mau (Chitrakoot) Ishteyak Ahmad said.

The victims were sent to a hospital where eight of them were declared dead on arrival. One of the victims died in the evening, the CO said.

Another girl, who was injured, is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Allahabad and doctors stated her condition stable. “The victims are aged between 12 and 17 years. The police are trying to trace driver of the mini truck, who escaped,” said the circle officer.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the family of deceased and Rs 50,000 to the injured person, a government official said.

Angry local residents staged a protest and blocked Allahabad-Chitrakoot highway for around three hours. They threw stones on vehicles and a police jeep was damaged. Protesters alleged that the police took some of the bodies away after the accident. They demanded that all bodies be brought back to the accident spot, said the CO. The mortuary is around 70 km from the spot.

The matter was resolved after senior police and administrative officials reached the spot and convinced the protestors that police had not taken any of the bodies. Officials also ensured them that the driver of mini truck will be traced soon.