10 charred bodies retrieved

Hours after the fire incident which charred a bus and truck in Kannauj on Friday night, the state administration struggled to put out the death toll. While witnessed say over 25 people have burnt alive in the mishap, the Kannauj administration insisted that only 10 charred bodies have been recovered.

“Charred bodies of 10 people have been recovered from the completely-damaged bus, District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar said, adding one of the bodies has been identified as Rinku Yadav (32), the driver of the truck which collided with the bus.

Inspector General of Police Kanpur range, Mohit Agarwal said, “Prima facie body of 10 people seem to be in the burnt bus. However, the damage is so extensive that only DNA rest can confirm the number of deaths. Over 20 passengers are missing.”

Five members of a Farrukhabad family who had boarded the ill-fated bus are missing forcing the kin to run from pillar to post get the information.

Distressed Rais Ahmad, whose brother Layeek Ahmad along with his wife and three children, told media, “There is no information about them.”

Leaders of Congress, Samajwadi Party and AAP expressed grief over the mishap and paid visits to hospitals to see the injured.

Former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, “We had set-up a fire station, 10 min away from the accident stop. Had the government not closed it for political vendetta, people could have been saved.”

FPJ could not immediately verify Yadav's claims.

Aam Admi Party's state chief Sabhajeet Singh has demanded that the ex-gratia amount should be raised from Rs two lakh to Rs10 lakh and amount declared for injured should also be raised from rs50,000 to Rs2 lakh.