Four passengers were killed and four others critically injured when an air-conditioned private bus carrying around 50 people collided with a trailer on the Gorakhpur Link Expressway in Ambedkar Nagar early Friday morning, police said.
Police suspect the driver may have dozed off at the wheel. The bus was travelling from Delhi to Darbhanga in Bihar when it collided with the trailer, which was carrying tiles from Rajasthan to Bihar. Most of the passengers were asleep when the accident occurred, triggering panic and screams inside the bus. Police personnel, assisted by passers-by, cut open the damaged portion of the bus to pull out the trapped passengers. The trailer was carrying tiles to Bihar. Following the impact, the tiles scattered across the expressway. Efforts were underway to identify and trace them.
The crash occurred at around 5.15 am in the Jaitpur police station area, around 50 km from the district headquarters, according to officials. The impact was so severe that the left side of the nearly 40-foot-long bus was completely mangled, trapping several passengers inside. The rescue operation continued for around 40 minutes, after which the injured were taken to hospital. He said the bus, operated by Tighra Express Travels, was reportedly travelling at close to 100 kmph, though the circumstances leading to the crash were being investigated.
Ambedkar Nagar additional superintendent of police (ASP) Tejveer Singh said the preliminary investigation indicated that the bus driver may have dozed off at the wheel, leading to the collision. The bus driver, conductor and trailer driver fled the spot after the collision, police said. Most of the passengers travelling in the bus were from Bihar, police said.
The identity of the fourth victim was being ascertained. Three of the four deceased were identified as Sachin Kumar, 30, and Naushad, 32, both residents of Bihar, and Parvez Ansari, 39, of Kushinagar, according to Singh. Among the injured were Sumit Mishra, 33, Sumit Anand, 40, and Rinku Kumari, 45.
