Video Producer: Furqan Faridi
Video Editor: Sandeep Suman
A two-tiered 'sleeper bus' on its way from Lucknow to Delhi skidded off the Yamuna Expressway (in Agra) and plunged about 20 feet into a drain in the early hours of Monday, 8 July – killing 29 people and injuring 18.
The bus belonged to the Awadh Depot and was carrying roughly 50 passengers, ANI reported.
“The incident took place around 4:30 am. The driver probably dozed off and the speeding bus broke our barrier and fell into the drain.”NG Ravi Kumar, Agra District Magistrate
As news of the tragedy spread, people from villages nearby rushed to rescue the survivors, many of whom were deep in sleep when the accident occurred.
Following this, two excavators and a crane were deployed to rip off the roof that aided the rescue operations.
The injured were rushed to different hospitals, including a private health facility, in the district, officials told the news agency.
Agra Police Releases List of Deceased
Meanwhile, the police in Agra released a list of 19 of those killed in the accident.
They are; Siddharth Dubey, Satya Prakash Sharma, Dhreeraj Pandey, Anvesh Awasthi, Satya Prakash Tiwari, Aditya Kashyap, Premchandra, Vijay Bahadur Singh, Huzur Alam, Prayagu Mishra, Deepak Singh, Dhirendra Pratap Singh, Ankush Srivastava, Akash Srivastava, E Ahmad, Amit Kumar, Deepak Kumar and a roadways employee whose name was not mentioned.
The ten other deceased have not been identified.
PM Modi, Mamata Banerjee & Others Condole Deaths
Prime Minister Narendra Modi offered condolences and said that the state and local administration was providing all possible assistance to the affected.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also offered condolences and in a Facebook post said, "I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who died in the accident. I wish for the speedy recovery of the injured."
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed the District Magistrate to provide all possible medical attention to the injured. Vice President Venkaiah Naidu and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee too expressed condolences.
Committee Will be Set-up to Probe Matter: Gadkari
Terming the accident unfortunate, Union Transport Minister Nitin Gadkari said the Uttar Pradesh government has already set up a committee to look into reasons behind the accident, news agency PTI reported.
The Central government will ask the UP government to implement the committee recommendations and take strict action against those responsible for the accident and the resultant deaths, Gadkari said.
“We are considering making it mandatory for tyre manufacturers to mix silicon with rubber in tyres and fill them with nitrogen instead of normal air,” he informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday.
Gadkari said the Central government has prepared a Rs 14,000-crore plan to prevent road accidents.
The Uttar Pradesh Roadways has also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the family of the deceased.
(With inputs from ANI and PTI.)
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