UP crash: 4 dead, several injured as UPSRTC bus rams truck in Jaunpur; driver took wrong lane, causing head-on collision

VARANASI: At least four people, including a woman and a girl, were killed while several other passengers suffered injuries when a bus of UP State Road Transport Corporation rammed into a truck after veering into the wrong lane near the Gureini petrol pump under the Khetasarai police station area of Jaunpur district on Tuesday late night.After assessing the injured passengers at the district hospital, Jaunpur district magistrate Dinesh Chandra and SP said that seven severely injured passengers were brought to the district hospital, where four were declared dead by doctors. In view of the critical condition of one, doctors referred him to the trauma centre of BHU in Varanasi. They added that 12 other passengers with minor injuries were treated at a local hospital in Khetasarai. Police started investigating the matter after ensuring the removal of both vehicles from the highway.During the initial investigation, police discovered that around 10:45 pm, a UPSRTC bus from the Varanasi depot, which was going to Shahganj in Jaunpur with over 25 passengers on board, was passing through Khetasarai. When it reached near the Gureini petrol pump, the bus driver entered the wrong lane, resulting in a head-on collision with a truck coming from the opposite direction.Locals and passersby immediately swung into action to rescue the injured passengers, while Khetasarai police also arrived and rushed them to a local hospital. In view of the critical condition of seven, doctors referred them to the district hospital.Khetasarai police station in-charge Ramashray Rai said that two of the deceased were identified as Devi Prasad (32) of Khutahan and Gena Devi (59) of Azamgarh district. Amidst efforts to ascertain the identity of the other two killed passengers, including a minor girl, police sent the bodies for postmortem examination.