Yamuna Expressway crash leaves 8 dead, 30 injured

Greater Noida: In a major road mishap, at least eight persons died while 30 others were critically injured after a private double decker bus collided into the truck from behind in Rabupura area of Greater Noida on Yamuna Expressway on early Friday morning. Cops said that the driver of speeding bus dozed off and rammed into the truck.

The incident took place at around 5 am in Rabupura area of Greater Noida, around 29 km away from zero point at Yamuna Expressway. Eight persons, including a minor and two women, died on the spot while the rescue operations continued for nearly an hour to pull out victims from the mangled bus. Police officials said that the driver of bus and helper also succumbed to injuries in the incident.

According to police, the deceased have been identified as bus driver Mahesh Kumar (48), helper Bandu (25), passengers Vineeta (32), Arun (42), Asad (12), Suman (35), Vishwanath Tiwari (75) and one unidentified. Cops added that most of the victims hail from Jalaun and Auraiya districts of Uttar Pradesh while the bus driver and helper were natives of district Dhaulpur in Rajasthan.

Sharad Chandra sharma, Circle Officer (Jewar) said that the bus was moving towards Delhi from Jalaun district while around 55 passengers were boarded in the bus when the incident took place. "Almost all the passengers present in the bus were sleeping when the incident took place. It seems driver dozed off and the bus rammed into truck from behind which was moving slowly on the e-way," said Sharma.

The officer further said that the victims were rushed to Kailash hospital in Jewar while police had to use crane and cutters to rescue the victims. "Acting upon the information received, a police team rushed to the spot and immediately stared the rescue operation. The victims were taken to the Kailash hospital in Jewar where doctors declared eight passengers brought dead while around 30 passengers including women and a few children have been critically injured and are receiving treatment at hospital," added Sharma.

Based on the complaint from the family member of one of the deceased, who was himself a passenger, a case was registered against the unknown truck driver at the Rabupura police station under sections 279 (rash driving), 338 (Causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 304A (Causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code. The truck was full of tiles. The police have seized it and are working on tracing the owner and driver. Contd on P4