12 killed, 4 injured as van slams stationary truck in Kheri
LAKHIMPUR KHERI : Twelve people, including two women, were killed and four others critically injured when an overloaded van crashed into a stationary truck on national highway 24 here early Saturday morning.
The truck was parked at a roadside dhaba in Uchaulia. The van, owned by a Shahjahanpur resident, was on its way to Sitapur carrying 18 people, including driver Anoop Awasthi and two infants.
Kheri DM Shailendra Kumar Singh, superintendent of police Dr S Channappa, deputy SP Vijay Anand, Pasgawan and Uchaulia police staff rushed the spot for rescue operations.
“The cab driver might have dozed off and lost control over his speeding vehicle which led to the accident,” Anand said.
Channappa said an inquiry into the causes of accident was on.
CM YOGI ADITYANATH EXPRESSED SORROW OVER THE INCIDENT AND DIRECTED OFFICIALS TO ENSURE ALL POSSIBLE HELP TO THE INJURED AND VICTIMS’ FAMILIES.
Police said the driver was among the dead. The collision was so intense that nine people, including two women, were killed on the spot.
A one year-old-girl and a threemonth-old boy survived the accident. While the girl was rushed to Shahjahanpur district hospital where she was united with her grandmother and uncle Fahim, who were among the four injured, the baby boy’s parents could not be traced.