LUCKNOW: Two persons were burnt alive and another sustained burn injuries after a maize-laden truck and a dumper collided head-on and caught fire on the Kushinagar-Lucknow four-lane highway in Gorakhpur district early Thursday.
The impact of the collision was so severe that both vehicles were engulfed in flames within minutes, triggering panic in the area and causing a massive traffic jam stretching nearly five kilometres.
The accident took place around 5 am near Ajawania village under the Ramgarhtal police station limits on the Kushinagar-Lucknow highway.
According to police, the truck loaded with maize was travelling from Bihar to Haryana via Lucknow. Preliminary investigation revealed that the dumper, carrying dust for a road construction project, allegedly came from the wrong side of the highway, leading to the devastating collision.
The truck overturned after the impact and immediately caught fire.
The flames rapidly spread to the dumper, trapping its driver and cleaner inside the cabin.
Before rescue efforts could begin, the fire intensified, leaving both occupants charred alive.
The deceased were identified as Satyendra Kumar (25), son of Ramkomal and resident of Dhamora village under Purani Basti police station in Basti district, who was driving the dumper, and Shiva (20), a resident of Fatehpur district, who was working as the cleaner, said SHO, Ramgarhtal, Atul Srivastava.
Police said the heat from the blaze was so intense that fire personnel initially could not move close to the vehicles.
Thick plumes of smoke and towering flames were visible from several kilometres away, drawing villagers and commuters to the spot.
Five fire brigade vehicles were rushed to the scene.
Firefighters battled the blaze for nearly one to two hours before bringing it under control.
After the flames subsided, police teams recovered only skeletal remains from inside the dumper cabin.
Police said DNA testing may be conducted for formal identification of the charred bodies. Both bodies have been sent for postmortem examination.
The truck driver escaped unhurt and therefore his details were not recorded at the district hospital, police said.
The truck cleaner, identified as Armaan Khan, a resident of Bharatpur in Rajasthan, suffered minor burn injuries. He received first aid treatment at the district hospital and later left.
Following the accident, traffic movement on the busy highway remained disrupted for several hours.
Police later removed both damaged vehicles from the road and restored traffic movement.
SHO, Srivastava said the families of the deceased have been informed and further legal proceedings are underway.
When not covering crime, he reads fiction, roams around the dark ...
Read MoreWhen not covering crime, he reads fiction, roams around the dark alleys of the city in the dead of night. An MA (English Litt) from University of Lucknow, Pathikrit loves to speak French, well at least a smattering of it. He did his graduation in French language. A recipient of the Road Safety Fellowship of the United Nations, Pathikrit drives cautiously and advises others to do that too.
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