7 dead, 20 injured after bus overturns on Lucknow-Agra Expressway

KANPUR: A double-decker AC bus travelling from Delhi to Bihar lost control and overturned on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway in Unnao at around 5am on Tuesday, killing seven passengers, including a sub-inspector and a prisoner, and injuring 20 others, including three policemen. The bus had 36 passengers on board.

Initial police investigation revealed that the accident occurred due to the driver dozing off. According to eyewitnesses, the bus was speeding when the driver suddenly lost control, hit the divider and got suspended on the railing on the side. Several passengers fell from the bus windows onto the area below the expressway, and one person’s leg was severed.

The accident occurred near milestone 262 on the expressway in the Auras police station area. Among the deceased were sub-inspector Ramchandra Ram (59), posted at Bihar’s Siwan Police Lines, and prisoner Chhatarpal Singh Tomar (59), a resident of Gurgaon. According to information, the Siwan Police team had taken the prisoner to Gurgaon Court for a hearing on May 24.

Police reached the spot upon receiving information and launched relief and rescue operations. As many as 32 injured were brought to a nearby Community Health Centre (CHC) with the help of 6-7 ambulances. Doctors at the CHC declared six passengers dead. The remaining were referred to Lucknow Trauma Centre after primary treatment, where one more injured person died during treatment.

According to police, most passengers on the bus were residents of Basti, Siddharthnagar and Gorakhpur. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath took cognisance of the accident, wished the injured a speedy recovery, and directed officials to provide assistance to the victims at the earliest. CM shares a post on social media, "The loss of lives in the unfortunate road accident on the Lucknow–Agra Expressway in Unnao district is extremely tragic and heartbreaking. My condolences are with the bereaved families."

Traffic on the expressway was disrupted for about 30 minutes following the accident, causing a long traffic jam. Besides the sub-inspector and prisoner, the deceased included Suresh Kumar Jaiswal, resident of Mundera Bazar (Gorakhpur), Videshi Gupta, resident of Madpur (Gorakhpur) and Vijay Kumar, resident of Faresan Govindpur (Basti). The identities of two passengers were yet to be established.

Injured constable Ramji said he was posted at Siwan Police Lines in Bihar. He stated they had left Delhi for Gorakhpur at 8:30pm on Monday. “All passengers were fast asleep when suddenly a sound like an explosion was heard. When he woke up, the bus had overturned and there was screaming all around. He later learned that the sub-inspector and prisoner travelling with him had died.”

Siwan jail superintendent Devashish Sinha stated that prisoner Chhatarpal Singh Tomar had been lodged in Siwan jail for the past three years in connection with the murder of a Zila Parishad clerk. Cases under Section 307 and the Arms Act were also registered against him in Gurgaon. Police had taken him for testimony in that case.

Safipur CO Sonam Singh stated that the bus accident on the expressway occurred between approximately 5:15 and 5:30am on Tuesday. “Five people died on the spot, while two died during treatment. One person was discharged from the community centre itself. 20 people were referred to a higher centre in Lucknow. Traffic on the expressway is being operated normally.”