AGRA: At least 29 people were killed and 23 others injured when a
passenger bus
fell into a drain on the
Yamuna Expressway early Monday morning.
Initial probe revealed that the mishap occurred after bus driver of the UPSRTC Jan Rath dozed off at the wheel.
The bus, after hitting the divider, fell into the 40-feet-deep gap between two flyovers on the Expressway near Milestone 161 (Jharna nullah) under Etmadpur police jurisdiction of Agra district at around 4.15am.
According to Major (retired) Manish Singh, in-charge coordinator of Yamuna expressway, "It seems the bus driver of the UPSRTC Jan Rath fell asleep on the wheel, breaking the divider and taking the bus into 40-feet shallow gap between two flyovers of Yamuna Expressway."
List of persons killed in the accidentSenior superintendent of police, Agra, Babloo Kumar said, "Our teams have completed the rescue operation. As of now 29 casualties have been reported. The injured have been shifted to hospital."
List of persons injured in the accidentThe bus with about 52 passengers was heading to Delhi from Lucknow's Alambagh depot. Agra police claimed that among 29 casualties two were teenagers, while rest were male victims. Among the 29, Agra police confirmed identity of 18 deceased, who hailed from Lucknow (6), Gorakhpur (2), Ghaziabad, Delhi, Rae Bareli, Pune, Bhojpur, Bihar, Gonda, Kurukshetra, one each, and three others, including UPSRTC staff.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the tragedy through a tweet.
Meanwhile, UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the passengers killed in the accident. He also instructed the officials to expedite rescue work and provide proper treatment to the injured.
UP DGP OP Singh also directed the officials to carry out relief and rescue work in full swing.
Assistant regional manager, Lucknow UPSRTC, Ambrin Akhtar said, "The bus was being driven by 45-year-old Kripa Shankar Chaudhary, who has a zero record of accident. We don't know the cause of accident yet. The status of bus driver and conductor Asnish Mishra is not known as of now. The bus left Lucknow depot at 10.30pm."
CM Yogi Adiyanath has formed an investigating committee to inspect the causes of road accident on the Yamuna Expressway. Transport commissioner, divisional commissioner and IG Agra range will submit a detailed report of the bus accident to UP government.
Meanwhile, Deputy CM Dinesh Sharma and state transport minister Swatantra Dev Singh met injured in S N Medical college. Speaking to media, Deputy CM said, "It's an unfortunate accident. All the victims are given medical treatment and their medical expenses will be taken care of by the state government. The transport commissioner, divisional commissioner and IG Agra range will submit a detailed report of the bus accident to UP government to ascertain the cause of accident."
Jaypee Infratech, the private concessionaire of Yamuna Expressway, will submit a detailed report of the bus accident to UP government by Monday evening.
Manju Sharma (57), a passenger from Ghaziabad (Chiranjeev Vihar, Kavi Nagar police station) whose husband Satya Prakash Sharma was killed in the accident, said, "The bus was over speeding and suddenly it rammed into the divider and plunged into a drain." Manju was shifted to S N Medical College with head and back injuries.
Sunita (26), resident of Ghagiya Khera, Rae Bareli who was traveling to Delhi’s Praladhpur along with her husband Bhanu Pratap (30) and two kids Riya (1) and Yuvraj (4), said, “We were sleeping in the bus when it plunged into the nullah. There was chaos, people were shouting for help, as nullah water gushed into the mangled bus. After the incident, I haven’t seen my husband and daughter.”
Dilip Shrivastav (35), resident of Eldeco II Lucknow, who was heading to Delhi for company meeting said, “I don’t know how bus plunged into nullah, but everyone was trying to escape from the mangled bus. We were rescued by local people who rushed to extract us from the bus.”
"It was the last bus from Alambagh depot in Lucknow for Delhi. All seats of the bus were occupied. I was sleeping at the time of the accident when I heard a loud noise. When I opened my eyes next, I found myself in hospital," said another passenger, Shehan Khan (28) from Amethi.
Locals from nearby villages were the first to rush for rescue work soon after the accident. They were later joined by the Expressway rescue team and Agra police.
The Yamuna Expressway has reported 127 deaths in 247 road accidents this year so far, while 110 deaths were reported in 659 road accidents during the year 2018.