Uttarakhand: Woman killed, 15 injured in multi-vehicle collision

Dehradun: A woman was killed and 15 others, including seven children, were injured in a multi-vehicle collision on the Dehradun-Haridwar National Highway in Uttarakhand, police said on Monday.

The accident occurred late Sunday night on the Motichur flyover in front of Hotel Godwin, where an Uttarakhand Roadways bus, travelling from Raiwala to Haridwar, hit a tractor trolley from behind. Subsequently, a Scorpio and two other vehicles crashed into the bus causing a pile-up, they said.

The police said the collision likely caused the Scorpio’s CNG cylinder to explode and catch fire, damaging other vehicles.

After the fire broke out, a thick cloud of smoke engulfed the accident site, creating panic. People began to exit their vehicles and run for cover. Firefighters arrived at the scene and brought the blaze under control.

According to the police, a woman got crushed under the wheels of a tractor-trolley during the accident and died on the spot. The deceased was identified as Kusum (30), a resident of Najibabad, Uttar Pradesh.

Fifteen people travelling on the tractor-trolley were also injured in the accident and were taken to a hospital in Haridwar by police and firefighters.

The accident caused a kilometer-long traffic jam on the highway. Smooth vehicular movement was restored after several hours of effort to remove the damaged vehicles from the road.

All the victims were residents of Bijnor and Najibabad in Uttar Pradesh. They were returning home in a tractor-trolley after attending the Jhanda Mela in Dehradun.

The injured included four women and seven children under the age of 12. The tractor trolley driver, Qasim (23), a resident of Shamli in Muzaffarnagar, was also injured in the accident.