New Delhi: Twelve persons, including three women, were killed when the autorickshaw they were traveling in collided head-on with a container truck that was mistakenly navigating the wrong side of the road in Uttar Pradesh on Thursday, news agency PTI reported. The collision occurred due to reduced visibility caused by fog, police said.
According to police sources, reported by the news agency PTI, "The occupants of the autorickshaw were en route to Farrukhabad with the intention of bathing in the Ganga river, marking the auspicious occasion of 'Purnima'."
Following the incident, the driver of the container truck fled the scene, and subsequent investigations led to the discovery of the abandoned vehicle approximately 12 kilometers away. Authorities are actively working to apprehend the driver, said the police.
Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashok Kumar Meena said that the unfortunate accident took place on the Bareilly-Farrukhabad road, near Sugsugi village in the Allahaganj police station area, approximately 50 kilometers from the city. The official further said that the container truck, traveling from the Jalalabad side, collided with the autorickshaw, with all twelve passengers, who were on their way to Ghatia Ghat, Farrukhabad, dying on the spot.
Initially, authorities had said that the autorickshaw collided with a tanker, but upon reaching the accident site, it was clarified that a container truck was involved in the collision. The victims were identified as Lalaram (30) and his brother Puttu Lal (50), Shivpal (45), Surendra Kashyap (50), Ankush (50), Anant Ram (35) and his wife Basanta Devi (70), Maniram (45), Pothiram (50), Rampa Devi (45), Rupa Devi (50), and Adesh (20), PTI reported.
According to the eyewitnesses, all the passengers on the autorickshaw fell onto the road due to the collision, with some individuals getting trapped between the two vehicles.