Low visibility-triggered road accidents claim 6 lives across U.P., injure over a dozen

Low visibility caused by dense fog enveloped the state on Saturday night and Sunday morning, resulting in road accidents in five districts that claimed six lives and injured over a dozen, said senior police officials here on Sunday.

In Shahjahanpur, a fatal collision between a car and a tractor trolley claimed three lives, including a woman. The victims were identified as Mayank Tiwari and Bablu. While identity of the woman could not be ascertained. The incident occured at Banda Road under Puwaya police station limits at around 11.30 pm. The car was completely crushed in the collision, and the bodies were later extracted using a gas cutter and JCB machine. The police reported a massive traffic jam on the road, which was cleared after approximately two hours of effort.

In another incident in Barabanki, two residents of Lucknow’s Bakshi Ka Talab village were killed after their car plunged into the Indira Canal near Ibrahimpur village under Dewa police station limits due to low visibility during the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.

Police reported that five Lucknow youths—Nitin, Ramu, Ambuj, Ankit, and Sumit—had attended a party at their friend’s house in Safipur village of Dewa on Saturday night. The incident occurred as they were returning together during the early hours of Sunday. According to authorities, the driver failed to see the broken railing of a bridge, leading to the car falling into the canal. While three of them were rescued by local villagers, Nitin’s body was recovered from the canal on early Sunday morning. Unfortunately, Ramu is feared dead, and efforts are underway to locate his body.

In Lucknow, a private bus collided with a truck from behind on Shaheed Path under Sushant Golf City due to dense fog, causing a significant jam at around 6 am on Sunday morning. The incident occurred as the bus was traveling from Delhi to Siddarthnagar. The bus driver, Shabbir Ali, sustained critical injuries and is undergoing treatment at the trauma center of King George Medical University, while five passengers suffered minor injuries.

While in Prayagraj, a girl died, and her sister was injured when the duo was hit by a moving train in the Bharwari area of Kaushambi due to dense fog. According to reports, the daughters of Harilal from the Bharwari area, Neelam, 13, and Mansha, 15, had gone to relieve themselves on the tracks early in the morning. The duo failed to notice the approaching goods train. Neelam tragically died after coming under the moving train, while Mansha sustained injuries in an attempt to save herself.

In another incident, half a dozen people were injured when an auto overturned in Pratapgarh district. The family of Jitendra Kumar from Hathigaha area in Pratapgarh was on their way to attend a funeral in Sangramgarh area on Sunday morning. Near Khanwari village, the auto driver failed to see a concrete platform due to dense fog and collided with it, causing the auto to overturn. This resulted in injuries to six passengers, including two children. Villagers rescued them and admitted them to the hospital.

In Sultanpur, two cars collided with an already crashed car at Abhiyakala diversion on Lucknow-Varanasi Road, resulting in serious injuries to two Varanasi residents, Ajit and Balram, on Saturday night. Police stated that the incident was caused by a family heading towards Lucknow, leaving their car behind after it collided with the diversion on Saturday night. The two other cars coming from Varanasi collided with it due to low visibility.

In Jhansi, eight family members escaped unharmed when a truck entered a house, breaking its walls alongside Lalitpur highway on Sunday morning. Police said that the low visibility on the roads resulted in this accident, and fortunately, nobody was injured.