30 killed in road accidents across UP in last 24 hours

Lucknow, Nov 5 (PTI) At least 30 people were killed and more than two dozen injured in road accidents across several districts of Uttar Pradesh in the last 24 hours, police officials said on Wednesday.

The victims included devotees and daily commuters, with several crashes linked to fog, speeding and driver fatigue.

The accidents on Wednesday claimed 16 lives in various districts including Bahraich, Kanpur, Pratapgarh, Etah, Ballia and Chandauli, while over a dozen fatalities were reported in Unnao, Jaunpur, Saharanpur, Bhadohi, Hamirpur and Etawah late Tuesday, according to the officials.

In Bahraich, four members of a family, including a three-year-old child, were killed early Wednesday morning when their motorcycle collided with a gravel-laden truck on the Bahraich-“Lucknow highway amid dense fog, police said.

The family was on its way to attend a Kartik Purnima fair in Barabanki.

In Kanpur, two pilgrims identified as Samta (32) and Sudhir alias Golu (20) died and 11 others were injured when an e-rickshaw overturned and fell into a drain near Navsheel Dham outpost in Kalyanpur area around 5 am. The devotees were heading to Bithoor for a holy dip in the Ganga on Kartik Purnima.

Two brothers, Mahendra (35) and Mithlesh Vishwakarma (18), were killed in Pratapgarh when their motorcycle was hit by an unidentified vehicle near an under-construction overbridge on the Prayagraj-“Ayodhya highway early Wednesday, said Kotwali Dehat SHO Pushparaj Singh.

In Etah, a 45-year-old mentally challenged man, identified as Ram Singh Lodhi, was killed after being hit by an unidentified vehicle near Mursama village on Wednesday morning, according to Sakarouli police station SHO Seema Tripathi.

A 43-year-old man, Shiv Shankar, was killed and his 23-year-old son, Sanjeev Gautam, seriously injured after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding four-wheeler near Tiwai petrol pump in Deoria's Surauli area around 4 pm on Wednesday, police said.

"The unidentified vehicle is being traced, and the body has been sent for post-mortem," Surauli SHO Trivendra Kumar Maurya said.

In Unnao, three men riding a motorcycle died on Wednesday evening when the two-wheeler fell into a water-filled ditch near the Baradev-Mohan road along the Lucknow-Agra Expressway, Circle Officer Santosh Singh said.

A retired Army man, Ram Suresh Singh (72), died after being hit by an e-rickshaw in Ballia on Wednesday morning, while another elderly man, Dukhtee Rajbhar (80), was killed late Tuesday after being hit by a truck near Sikandarpur, police said.

In Chandauli, a 22-year-old man, identified as Azad Kumar Saxena, was killed and another injured when their motorcycle collided head-on with a pickup vehicle near Vishunpura village on Wednesday evening, police said.

A man was killed in Ayodhya and six others were injured in separate road crashes on Wednesday, according to police.

In Banda, a head-on collision between two motorcycles near Nivaich village on Wednesday evening left Balendra Singh (38) dead and three others seriously injured, police said.

On Tuesday night, three brothers, Sachin (20), Chhotu (18), and Arun (26), were killed in Unnao when their motorcycle collided head-on with a pickup truck carrying fertiliser on the Unnao-“Raebareli highway. The siblings were on their way for a dip in the Ganga on Kartik Purnima.

In Jaunpur, two persons, including a DCM truck driver and a cleaner, died after their vehicle rammed into another truck on the Varanasi-“Lucknow highway near Maharupur village late Tuesday. Police suspect that the DCM driver dozed off, leading to the head-on crash.

In Saharanpur, three men, Vishambhar Singh (70), Karan (40), and Apin (25), were killed late Tuesday when a tractor overturned in Khubanpur village under the Dehat Kotwali area, police said. In a separate incident the same night, Ravindra (38) died after his motorcycle was hit by an e-rickshaw on Nasrullaganj Road under Nakur police limits.

In Bhadohi, two youths, Sunny Yadav and Ajay Yadav, both in their 20s, were killed, while two others sustained serious injuries after a speeding SUV rammed into their motorcycle on NH-19 near Kothra overbridge late Tuesday, Superintendent of Police Abhimanyu Manglik said.

In Hamirpur, a 30-year-old man, Amit Dubey, was killed late Tuesday after an unidentified vehicle hit his motorcycle near Makraon village on NH-34.

Police are scanning CCTV footage to trace the vehicle, SHO Umesh Singh said.

In Etawah, a man, Shiv Shankar (30), died, and his nephew was injured after their bike collided with a roadways bus near Bijouli village on Tuesday night, police said.

The officials said most of the accidents occurred either due to speeding, poor visibility, or negligence by drivers, with many victims on pilgrimage. PTI COR ABN CDN ZIR AR KIS KVK KVK