16 killed, 6 hurt in road accident in UP’s Kanpur

Kanpur (UP), June 8: At least 16 people were killed and six injured in a road accident on the KanpurAllahabad highway in the Sachendi area of this Uttar Pradesh district late on Tuesday evening, police said.

Two among the injured are said to be critical, they added.

Kanpur outer’s superintendent of police (SP) Ashtbhuja Prasad Singh said the accident occurred in the Kisan Nagar area when a speeding bus hit a loader, which fell on the other side of the highway, while the bus also overturned and fell into a ditch.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has announced an ex-gratia amount of `2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased and ordered an inquiry into the incident.

The collision was so strong that almost all passengers of both the vehicles got trapped and some of them died on the spot, the SP said.

GSVM college principal R.B. Kamal told PTI over the phone that at least 16 people were killed, while five were admitted at the Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) hospital with serious injuries.

A heavy police force, comprising personnel from half-a-dozen police stations, was dispatched to the site of the accident.

An official spokesperson in Lucknow said the chief minister has expressed grief over the loss of lives in the road accident in Kanpur and directed senior officials to immediately rush to the spot. He has announced an ex-gratia amount of `2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased, and asked the district administration to conduct an inquiry into the reasons behind the accident and submit a report, the spokesperson said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday expressed grief at the loss of lives in a road accident in Kanpur and announced an ex-gratia of `2 lakh each from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund for the next of kin the deceased.

The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) said `50,000 each would be provided to those injured in the accident.