Greater Noida: 17 injured as bus rams into truck amid fog on eway

Greater Noida: As many as 17 passengers, including 14 women, were left injured after their Mathura-bound bus rammed into a stationary truck that had already tail-ended another truck a short while ago amid dense fog and low visibility on the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) early Tuesday, police said, adding that the wounded were rushed to hospital and later discharged.

All wounded passengers were part of a religious singing group and residents of Mathura, who were returning to their home town in a private bus after performing at a ‘Satsang’ (a religious function) in Samalkha, Haryana. Both the truck drivers and their helpers, however, did not suffer any injury, said officers.

The incident occurred around 4.30 am, when a truck was heading towards the Greater Noida side allegedly at a slow speed just when another truck hit it from behind near Himaliya village that falls under Ecotech 1 police station on the expressway, they added.

“A probe found that due to dense fog, when a truck was cruising at a slow speed, another truck rammed into it, and within a few minutes a bus crashed into that second truck,” said Arvind Kumar, assistant commissioner of police, Greater Noida.

Passengers alerted police on emergency helpline number 112 and a team of Ecotech 1 police station rushed to the spot.

“At the time of the incident, there were nearly 50 people inside it. The injured were rushed to a nearby hospital by ambulance and discharged after preliminary medical treatment. They were all informed to be out of danger,” said Anuj Kumar, station house officer, Ecotech 1 police station, adding that police later towed away the vehicles from the EPE and resumed the vehicular movement.

Suman Yadav, 45, who suffered eight stitches above her eyes, said: “Around 1am, we left Samalkha in a private bus. As we reached EPE, our bus rammed into a vehicle. The hazard lights of the truck were off. Our colleague, Sunita Sharma, 60, sustained severe injuries to her nose, while an 80-year-old woman, Son Devi, was also badly hurt. We will have further treatment at our hometown.”

Police, meanwhile, are yet to register any case as they await any complaint to be filed in the incident.