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This story is from July 29, 2021

18 migrants dead as truck collides with stranded bus in UP

18 migrants dead as truck collides with stranded bus in UP
The double decker private bus which was hit by a speeding truck on the Lucknow-Ayodhya road, in Barabanki on Wednesday, July 28, 2021. (Photo credit: PTI)
LUCKNOW: At least 18 migrant laborers were crushed to death while they slept while 25 were critically injured, when a speeding truck rammed into a stationary double-decker bus in Ramsanehi Ghat area of Barabanki, a few hours after Tuesday midnight.
The bus, stuffed with 140 laborers, was on its way from Ludhiana to Bihar when it broke down in the dead of night on NH-28 on the Barabanki-Ayodhya stretch.
With the air-conditioning not working and windows sealed, many passengers got off the stranded bus and dozed off on the road while the driver scrambled to fix a broken axle.
An hour later, a truck moving at high speed collided head-on with the bus, crushing passengers asleep on the road and leaving the vehicle in a mangled heap. The Bihar-bound laborers were employed in factories in Ludhiana, Punjab, and in Hisar, Haryana. While 11 died on the spot, seven were declared dead at the district hospital. The identities of two are yet to be ascertained. Eleven of the injured were taken to the Trauma Centre, Lucknow, Barabanki SP Yamuna Prasad said.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Bihar CM Nitish Kumar expressed grief at the loss of life. The PM announced Rupees 2 lakh compensation for the kin of the deceased and Rupees 50,000 for the injured. Modi also called Adityanath to enquire about relief operations. The CM directed cabinet ministers to reach the hospital and oversee medical aid. Nitish Kumar condoled the deaths and announced Rupees 2 lakh ex-gratia for the kin of each of the deceased.
Police said the drivers of the bus and truck were on the run. "The owner and the manager of Rishabh Travels, which runs the air-conditioned bus, and the drivers of both vehicles have been booked for death by negligence, rash driving, and under sections of the Epidemic Diseases Act and Disaster Management Act," said SP Barabanki.
Mishri Lal (50), who survived the crash, told reporters he was asleep inside the bus when the accident happened. "I woke up to see passengers tossed onto the bus floor. When we managed to extricate ourselves from the wreckage, we saw dismembered bodies strewn along the road and the injured crying in pain. We tried to stop passing vehicles, but to no avail. Then we blocked the highway with bodies, triggering a gridlock. It was then that a passerby called police," he said. The complainant in the case, passenger Falgun Sahni (30) of Sitamarhi, said the bus was overloaded and the driver had sought money from the passengers for the repair of the axle.

After police received the SOS, senior police and district officials rushed to the spot to launch rescue operations. Barabanki DM Adarsh Singh supervised the rescue operation and arranged buses to Bihar for the other passengers. "We formed a panel of doctors to conduct autopsies and simultaneously send the bodies to Bihar," he said.
BSP supremo Mayawati asked the government to provide free treatment to the injured and send the bodies home at government expense. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, too, appealed to the government to ensure treatment of the injured and sent party functionaries to visit them in hospital. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi urged party workers to provide aid to the accident victims.
Eyewitness account
Neeraj Kumar (18) of Sitamarhi said he and his friends got on the bus in Ludhiana, but when it reached Hisar, the conductor stopped the vehicle midway and forced us into the ill-fated double decker bus standing nearby. Another injured person, Shambhu (29) of Madhubani, said passengers were forced to spread sheets and sleep on the road as it was stifling inside the bus with the windows sealed. "When it began raining, some of them took shelter under the bus," he said.
Helpline number
Barabanki police has issued a helpline number — 9454417464 — for any queries about the dead and injured.
The deceased who were identified include Suresh Yadav (35) of Madhepura, Indal Mahato (25), Gagandev (35), Rajdev Mahato (60), Monu Sahni (30), Jagdish (40), Naresh (37), Shanishchar (50) and Mastram Mandal (60) from Sitamarhi, Sikandar Mukhiya (40) and Akhilesh Mukhiya (30) of Saharsa, Jai Bahadur (40), Baijnath Ram (55) and Balram Mandal (55) from Supaul, and Santosh Singh (30) and Bauwa (30) from Araria.
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About the Author
Pathikrit Chakraborty

Highly responsive to unfolding developments. Reports on crime, and terrorism in UP and also probes by National Investigation Agency (NIA), Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), Enforcement Directorate (ED), Economic Offences Wing (EOW) Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) in Uttar Pradesh.

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