Dozens of children dead in India crash
School bus and lorry collide in foggy conditions
LUCKNOW// Two dozen young children died and more were feared dead when a lorry hit their school bus in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh yesterday.
Besides 24 fatalities, at least two dozen children were injured when the speeding lorry carrying with sand collided head- on with the bus, said Javeed Ahmed, the state’s most senior police official. The children, between the ages of 3 and 12, were pupils at a school in the town of Etah.
Another police officer, Daljeet Chaudhry, said visibility was poor because of dense fog.
Officer Parasuram Singh said the truck driver’s legs were badly injured and were amputated in hospital.
He said the rescue work was over and all the children taken from the wreckage.
The accident site is about 270 kilometres south-east of New Delhi.
The state’s education authorities had closed all schools in the district because of the severe cold weather, and Mr Ahmed said authorities would check why the school had stayed open. Prime minister Narendra Modi tweeted his condolences, saying: “Anguished by tragic accident in UP’s Etah. I share the pain of the bereaved families & condole [the] passing away of young children.”
Accidents are common on Indian roads, with most blamed on reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and ageing vehicles.
Road accidents killed nearly 150,000 people in India last year, or about 400 a day, according to data from the ministry of road transport and highways.