This story is from January 13, 2020

Two killed, 16 injured in Agra-Lucknow Expressway accident

Two were killed and 16 were injured after Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation’s bus jumped off Agra-Lucknow Expressway into a ditch due to dense fog on Monday morning, in an attempt to avoid collision with a truck.
Two killed, 16 injured in Agra-Lucknow Expressway accident
<p>A UPSRTC bus jumped off Agra-Lucknow Expressway into a ditch on Monday<br></p>
AGRA: Two were killed and 16 were injured after Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation’s bus jumped off Agra-Lucknow Expressway into a ditch due to dense fog on Monday morning, in an attempt to avoid collision with a truck.
Police claimed that a Rajasthan registered goods truck broke down in the middle of its journey on late Sunday night and was not removed from the expressway, following which on Monday morning at around 6.50am, the bus met an accident near milestone 18.600 of Fatehabad police jurisdiction of Agra district, while it was heading towards the state capital along with 37 passengers and four crew of the bus.

By the time this report was filed, local police could identify only one deceased passenger - Dinesh Shakya (44) of Bhagipur village of Etah district - while other victim's identity was yet to be ascertained.
“Nearly 16 passengers were injured, including two in critical conditions, who have been shifted to SN Medical College. Our team is trying to ascertain the identity of the deceased passenger,” said Pramod Kumar, additional superintendent of police Agra rural east.
He said, “During questioning, the driver of UP roadways bus Raj Kumar claimed that he was accelerating bus between 40-50 kmph in heavy dense fog when he suddenly saw the truck parked on the extreme right lane. In order to avoid a collision, the driver took a hard left turn but plunged into a ditch.”
Adding further, the ASP said, “The fog was so dense on the expressway that it took me nearly an hour to reach the accident spot. But what concerns us is why the defunct goods truck was not removed from the stretch.”

According to police, the truck’s front right tyre deflated during its journey and its axle got damaged, forcing it to stop on extreme right lane. The accident occurred just 3km before toll plaza.
Speaking on anonymity, a private concessionaire’s expressway patrolling team member said, “Within 15 minutes of bus accident our team along with UPEDIA patrolling team reached the accident spot and started the rescue operation along with the police team.”
He said, “Last night we received information about the broken-down truck and immediately UPEDIA patrolling team installed a barricade parameter around the vehicle with safety cones. Since our cranes were busy in two other accidents, which occurred at milestone 47 and 49 on Sunday night, they immediately couldn’t dispatch cranes to remove the truck. The UP roadways bus had hit safety cones before jumping off the expressway.”
KP Singh, the toll manager of Agra-Lucknow Expressway operated by private concessionaire said, “Our teams always respond to the accident in quickest possible time and remove defunct vehicles immediately. We will investigate that why the crane was not available immediately to remove the broken truck from the stretch.”
author
About the Author
Arvind Chauhan

Arvind Chauhan is an experienced journalist with a demonstrated history of working in the newspapers industry as well as for the social media wing as digital content creator. He has covered subjects like railways, aviation, defence, energy, health, real estate, minority affairs, women and child development, crime, customs, telecom, district court, district administration, roads and infrastructure, armed forces tribunal, and regional politics across Uttar Pradesh. He began his career in Lucknow, and has done reporting in West Uttar Pradesh. He has won the Times Scribe Award four times including for busting fake news, and extensive coverage on Covid orphans. He graduated with a journalism degree from Times School of Journalism and BA (Honors) in English from Lucknow University.

End of Article
FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA