At least 19 killed, 33 hurt as truck hits 2 trolleys in UP

At least 19 passengers, including 12 women and five children, were on Saturday killed and 33 injured when a speeding truck collided with two tractor-trolleys in Malawan area here.

The two vehicles were on their way to a canal for a ceremony related to Bhagwat puja which was being organised in Pura village, Additional Superintendent of Police R P Gupta said.

The speeding truck rammed into one of the tractor-trolley near Harchandpur village on Mainpuri road. Due to the high impact of this collision, the damaged trolley climbed on the trolley in front of it, the ASP said.

Five of the deceased were children and 12 were women, he said. Thirty-three persons were also injured in the accident and have been admitted to different hospitals in Etah, Aligarh and Agra.

Nine of them are in serious condition and four are stated to be critical, he said. Expressing grief over the incident, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav announced financial assistance of rupees two lakh each to kin of those killed in the accident and Rs 50,000 each to injured.

He also directed the officials to provide free treatment to the injured. Local residents staged an agitation by blocking a road near Harchandpur area and started stone-pelting on the police, administrative officers and the vehicles passing by. The situation was later controlled by the authorities.

Meanwhile, in a separate incident Five persons were killed and over 100 others had to be hospitalised after inhaling hazardous fumes in an ammonia gas tanker leak early Saturday in the district, police said.

The incident occurred when the tanker got stuck under a flyover along a canal on the Doraha Bypass Road, about 25-km from here, they said.

“Five persons died from inhaling the gas and over 100 others complained of breathing problems.

“Those affected after inhaling the gas have been admitted to various hospitals in Ludhiana. Barring 2-3 persons, all were stated to be out of danger by the doctors,” Ludhiana Police Commissioner Pramod Ban told a news agency over the phone.

The locals came out of their houses even as the gas from the leaking tanker spread in and around Doraha, police said, adding that residents of the surrounding areas had to be evacuated after the incident.

Police said that all the deceased are male adults with two among them having been identified as Satpal of Doraha and Avtej Singh of Jalandhar.

The tanker bears a Gujarat licence plate, police said, adding that the incident occurred on the Delhi-Ludhiana highway. Khanna SSP Gurpreet Singh Gill said that the incident was caused by the negligence of the driver. The tanker got stuck under the flyover and its valve got damaged, resulting in the leakage, added Gill. “It was late in the night and there was no heavy traffic. The driver should have seen if the vehicle would pass through,” Gill said.

Doraha SHO Rajnish Kumar Sood said that the bodies have been shifted to a hospital in Ludhiana.