Yet another hit-and-run tragedy; four kids orphaned

Saurabh, 9, was probably going through the toughest of times explaining to his three younger sisters why they won’t be seeing their parents anymore.

Even as he was trying to come to terms with the untimely deaths of their parents-- Kushmesh Kannaujia, 35, and Aarti Kannaujia, 30, he, being the oldest of the siblings, witnessed their last rites on Tuesday. A day earlier, the couple, who were on a bike, were run over by a speeding truck near Lucknow’s Gosaiganj.

The incident seems like a repeat of the March mishap, wherein a gardener and a sales manager, were fatally wounded by a speeding car in Mahanagar.

On Monday evening, Kushmesh, who made his living by ironing people’s clothes in the Nishatganj area, and his wife were killed in the hit-and-run accident when they were returning from Barabanki’s Eliyspur with their youngest daughter, aged two. The young girl, miraculously, survived the accident with some injuries, the relatives said. The three were returning to their house in Sekhanapur of Gosaiganj.

“On Monday, Kushmesh was returning from Barabanki when he met with the accident near Chand Sarai village. Their two-year-old daughter, who was on Aarti’s laps, survived as Aarti managed to toss her to safety when the truck hit them from behind. After the collision, the truck didn’t stop and ran over them,” Kushmesh’s elder brother Mukesh told this reporter over a phone call.

“My brother had admitted his son and eldest daughter to a government school and was somehow managing to fund their education. He was trying to save money for the kids, but the accident has dashed the hopes of our entire family,” added Mukesh.

Kushmesh had moved to Lucknow from Barabanki a few years ago in search for greener pastures and lived in the city with his family and in-laws.

Mukesh, who earns his bread from daily wages, added that no financial help was offered to the family. Also, an FIR against the incident was registered on Wednesday, two days after the accident.

Gosaiganj station house officer Brijesh Kumar Tripathi said the family was busy in conducting the funeral rites, which was why it submitted its complaint on Wednesday. “The truck driver, Dheerendra Pal, was chased by police and stopped near Sushant Golf City. He has been arrested,” the SHO added.

‘UP tops India charts in mishap deaths’

Union minister of road transport & highways Nitin Gadkari, who was in Lucknow last Saturday, said Uttar Pradesh saw 23,650 deaths in 44,000 road accidents that were reported in 2023. Around 1,800 of the victims were people below 18 years of age, and 8726 deaths out of the total were due to overspeeding or rash driving, he added.

Country-wide, there had been a 4.2% rise in road accidents and 2.6% rise in fatalities caused by them in 2023 over 2022.

“Most road accident deaths occur in India. In India, most such deaths occur in Uttar Pradesh,” said the minister.

His ministry, meanwhile, is yet to release the 2023 report on road accidents in India.