At least nine people died and about 20 were injured after a passenger bus from Uttar Pradesh collided with a stationary truck in Madhya Pradesh’s Maihar district late on Saturday night, police said.
According to the police, the incident took place on the National Highway 30 at around 10.45 p.m. on Saturday when the sleeper bus, travelling from Prayagraj to Maharashtra’s Nagpur, crashed with a truck loaded with stones in the Nadan Rural police station area. The truck was parked on the roadside at the time of the incident.
All nine deceased, including a four-year-old child, are male.
“The collision impact was severe as the bus was in high speed. The front part of the bus was heavily damaged,” Maihar Superintendent of Police Sudhir Agrawal said.
Mr. Agrawal said that a police team immediately reached the spot and a rescue operation was launched with the help of teams from the National Highway Authority of India and some NGOs.
Videos and local reports showed that the bus was crushed so badly that a bulldozer and gas cutters had to be used to rescue the passengers.
“People who were safe [in the bus] were rescued through the emergency door,” Mr. Agrawal said, adding that six people died on the spot while the injured were sent to hospitals in Maihar and Amarpatan towns.
“A total of nine people were referred to the district hospital in [the neighbouring district of] Satna,” he said.
Superintendent of Police-City, Rajeev Pathak told The Hindu that the cause of the accident was as yet unclear and the police were yet to question the bus driver as he is currently in hospital and his assistant had died in the accident.
He said that a First Information Report (FIR) against both the bus and the truck drivers had been filed under relevant Sections.
“We have also booked the truck driver as he had parked the vehicle partly on the road,” Mr. Pathak said.
“We are now coordinating with U.P. and Maharashtra Police to contact the families of victims. It was also difficult to identify some of the deceased due to the severity of their injuries and because they hailed from different places in U.P. and Maharashtra. But we have identified all nine bodies now,” he said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav took to social media platform X to express grief over the incident.
Mr. Yadav had earlier said that 10 passengers had lost their lives in the accident but later clarified that nine deaths had been confirmed and that one person was in critical condition.
“In this horrific road accident, 9 passengers have been confirmed dead while one is in a very critical condition. Most of the passengers are from Uttar Pradesh and Maharashtra. I pray to Almighty God that all the injured get quick recovery,” he said in a second post.
“The district administration has been directed to provide proper treatment to the injured and the families of the deceased will be provided financial assistance by the government as per rules,” Mr. Yadav added.
Mr. Adityanath conveyed his condolences. “The loss of life in a road accident in Maihar, Madhya Pradesh is extremely sad. My condolences are with the grieving families of the deceased. Instructions have been given to the officials to establish contact with the Madhya Pradesh administration and provide all possible assistance to the victims,” he said.
The bus was carrying about 45 passengers, with most of them hailing from U.P.’s Jaunpur, Pratapgarh, and Prayagraj, while some were from Nagpur.
Published - September 29, 2024 04:53 am IST
