Three persons were killed and nearly two dozen injured in two pile-ups due to dense fog on the Yamuna Expressway in less than 12 hours on Thursday.
The first accident happened 81 km from zero point (Greater Noida) in Mathura at 12.50 a.m. on Thursday, followed by the second one, happened 124 km from zero point, in the early hours of Thursday.
Severe injuries
According to the Mathura Police, the first incident involved two buses, a canter, one truck and two cars. Sumit Narayan, a resident of Etawah district in Uttar Pradesh, was killed in the incident, while the occupants of a bus sustained severe injuries.
Sureer police station Station House Officer G.P. Singh told The Hindu that a red bus was headed towards Agra from Noida, followed by a green bus, a canter and a truck.
“The vehicles were moving in one line due to thick fog. According to the injured persons, the red bus braked suddenly. The green bus managed to brake in time, but the canter was unable to do so and rammed the green bus,” he said.
“The rear seat occupants were severely injured. Sumit was rushed to a nearby hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. We are yet to receive a complaint. The toll operator company’s rescue team rushed the victims to the hospital,” he said. The Expressway is operated by Jaypee Group.
A company spokesperson told The Hindu that the second pile-up lead to the deaths of Noida Authority employees Durgesh and Gazab Singh. The second incident involved an SUV, two canters and one truck. A company official said the two deceased and four of their friends were returning from a wedding ceremony in Agra in an SUV. In November, over a dozen people were injured in two pile-ups on the Expressway due to dense fog.
Another pile-up
In another development, one person died and a dozen were injured in a major pile-up on NH 91 on Thursday.
(The writer is a freelance journalist)
