12 killed as container truck collides with auto-rickshaw amid fog in UP

Shahjahanpur (UP): Twelve people, including three women, died on Thursday morning when their auto-rickshaw collided head-on with a container truck plying on the wrong side of the road amid reduced visibility due to fog, police said.

Police have lodged a murder case against the container truck driver.

The occupants of the auto-rickshaw were travelling to Farrukhabad to take a bath in the Ganga river on the occasion of 'Purnima', they said.

The tragic accident took place on the Bareilly-Farrukhabad road near Sugsugi village in the Allahaganj police station area, about 50 kilometres from the city, Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashok Kumar Meena said.

The container hit the auto-rickshaw coming from the Jalalabad side, killing all 12 passengers, who were going to Ghatia Ghat, Farrukhabad to take a bath in the Ganga on the occasion of 'Purnima', on the spot, he said.

Earlier, the SP had said the auto-rickshaw had collided with a tanker. However, after reaching the spot, he said it was found that the three-wheeler was hit by a container truck.

Meena said the deceased 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).

The container truck driver fled the spot after the accident. Later, his vehicle was found abandoned 12 kilometres away from the accident spot. Efforts are being made to arrest the driver, police said.

An FIR under Indian Penal Code section 302 (murder) has been registered against the unidentified container truck driver at Allahaganj police station of the district efforts are being made to arrest him, senior officials said.

Eyewitnesses said all passengers of the auto-rickshaw fell on the road due to the impact of the collision and some got stuck between the two vehicles.

The auto-rickshaw got stuck under the container truck. The truck driver moved his vehicle back and forth to release the auto-rickshaw, crushing the injured lying on the road, they said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath condoled the loss of lives in the accident.