Holi celebrations turn tragic as eight die in road accidents

Lucknow: Holi celebrations turned tragic in the state capital as eight people, including a criminal and a schoolteacher, lost their lives in separate road accidents reported from different parts of the city.Most of the accidents were caused by speeding vehicles, reckless driving, or loss of vehicle control. In the first case, a 31-year-old hardened criminal, Sunil, died after a head-on collision between a Scorpio SUV and a motorcycle on Nagram Road. Station house officer Anuj Kumar Tiwari said Sunil was a listed criminal at Nigohan police station. In another incident, Ravi Singh (24), a resident of Balu Adda, died after his scooter rammed into a road divider in the Vikas Nagar area. In another case, a govt schoolteacher, Gudiya, died after being hit by an unidentified vehicle near the Mahona Road Power House in the Itaunja area. A 35-year-old motorcyclist, Zeeshan, died after being hit by an allegedly rashly driven UP Roadways bus in Madeyganj on Wednesday. Inspector Anjani Singh said the bus driver fled the scene with the vehicle. In Gosainganj, 89-year-old Cheda died after being hit by an unidentified vehicle near the Purvanchal Expressway underpass while he was out for an evening walk on Tuesday. In another tragic accident in the Mal police station area, one Sumit of Gadarian Kheda in Atrauli, died in a motorcycle collision near Pipri turn. Sumit was reportedly heading to Chakai village, the home of his fiancée, to celebrate Holi when his motorcycle collided with another bike coming from the opposite direction. Villagers rushed him to a hospital where doctors declared him dead. In Banthra, an unidentified motorcyclist died after a container truck rammed into his bike on the Mohanlalganj–Junabganj road on Tuesday morning. In another accident in Dubagga, 70-year-old Mata Prasad, a resident of Khalispur in Kakori, died after a motorcycle slipped on gravel near a roadside eatery close to the Dubagga power house.