Speeding truck ploughs through group ofbus passengers on Yamuna e-way, 6 dead

Agra: A speeding container truck ploughed through a group of passengers who had stepped out for a toilet break on the roadside after their sleeper bus travelling from Delhi to Kanpur Dehat skipped the designated green zone meant for a ‘safe halt' on Yamuna expressway in UP's Mathura district early on Saturday, leaving six dead and at least three injured.Police said the incident took place near Milestone 88 in Surir area when the private bus had briefly stopped along the busy e-way, exposing the passengers to fast-moving traffic. As the people came out, a truck coming from behind first hit the stationary bus and then ran over some of them.Surir SHO Ajay Kumar said, "Passersby alerted local cops, who sent ambulances to take the injured to the nearest hospital. The bodies were sent for postmortem. Traffic on the e-way was briefly disrupted."An FIR has been registered under BNS section 105 (culpable homicide) against the drivers of both vehicles, the SHO said, adding that the truck driver fled soon after the incident.Recounting the horror, Mohammad Arif, who was on the bus, said, "A few passengers wanted the driver to halt for toilet break, and he stopped the vehicle on the e-way. Minutes later, there was a loud bang. A fast-moving container truck had hit our bus and then crushed some of those who had stepped outside. Those injured were screaming for help. It was a terrible sight."Sonu Kumar (32), Devesh Singh (32), Mohammed Aslam (27), Santosh Kumar (47), Anurag Gupta (27), and Pramod Singh (35) died. Among the three injured, Shivkant Dubey (35) is currently admitted in a Mathura hospital.Anurag Gupta worked at a private firm in Delhi. Pramod was a plumber in Delhi, too, and as per his kin, was travelling to Firozabad for his child's first birthday. Mainpuri native Santosh Kumar was a salesman in Delhi, while Aslam used to work as a tailor at a factory in the national capital.Mathura district magistrate CP Singh said, "Legal action will be taken against the drivers. Rest of the passengers (about 36 of them) were sent to their respective destinations by a roadways bus. Appropriate financial assistance for the deceased's families will be provided."Meanwhile, UP CM Yogi Adityanath has expressed his condolences for the victims and directed the officials to provide immediate assistance to the other affected passengers.