At least three people were killed and 20 others injured, five of them critically, when a speeding truck rammed into a private passenger bus parked by the roadside on the Purvanchal Expressway in Sultanpur early Thursday, police said.
The passengers were travelling from Gurugram to Bihar, with many heading home for Raksha Bandhan. Police and Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development Authority (UPEIDA) personnel reached the spot and shifted the injured to nearby hospitals. The bus was eventually parked roadside and the driver reportedly got down to use the toilet. Passengers alleged that the door was closed, preventing them from getting off. Police are examining CCTV footage to identify the truck and trace its driver. The bodies were sent for post-mortem examination and the victims’ families were informed.
The accident took place around 5:30 am near milestone 96.6 in Baldirai police station area, around 35 km from the Sultanpur district headquarters. Sultanpur’s Baldirai circle officer (CO) Ashutosh Kumar said the deceased were identified as Shyamlal Mandal, 42, Vinod Mandal, 50, of Gurugram, and Kiran Devi, 60, of Bihar. The bus had left Gurugram around 4 pm on Wednesday for Bihar via Gorakhpur, according to police.
Passengers told investigators that the driver had repeatedly stopped on the expressway despite requests not to do so. Police said they were investigating the circumstances in which the bus was parked on the expressway and the exact sequence of events preceding the collision.
