29 killed as driver of Delhi-bound bus dozes off, drives off Yamuna Expressway

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Updated: May 29, 2020 20:18 IST

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath ordered a probe into a bus accident on the Yamuna Expressway near Agra that killed at least 29 people and injured more than 15, officials said on Monday.

Transport commissioner, divisional commissioner and Agra’s inspector general of police have been asked to investigate the accident in 24 hours and give a report on its cause, according to Mrityunjay Kumar, advisor to chief minister Yogi Adityanath. They have also been instructed to give long term recommendations to avoid such accidents, headded.

The chief minister has also asked his deputy Dinesh Sharma and the minister of state for transport Swatantra Dev Singh to immediately visit the accident site and meet the injured in the hospitals.

The accident occurred after a government-run AC bus from Lucknow to Delhi fell off the Yamuna Expressway into a drain near Agra on Monday morning.

District magistrate NG Ravi Kumar said the accident took place at 4:30am when the Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) bus from Avadh depot in Lucknow was heading towards Delhi’s Anand Vihar depot.

Kumar said the bus driver probably fell asleep and lost control over the vehicle as it fell 30 feet into the Jharna Nullah between two roads near Etmadpur on the outskirts of Agra.

The dead include a one-and-a-half-year-old girl and 15-year-old girl as well as 27 men, he said. The bodies have been sent for post mortem examination, according to the district magistrate.

Eighteen people, who were injured, have been shifted for treatment till now, he added. The bus conductor was amongst those injured and has been admitted to a hospital in trans-Yamuna locality of Agra.

Rescuers were seen fishing out the bodies from the drain as an earth-moving machine pulled out the mangled remains of the bus.

District magistrate Kumar said the rescue operation was almost complete and the focus now is on the treatment of the injured and informing their family members.

Watch | 29 killed as bus falls into canal off Yamuna Expressway near Agra

Agra’s senior superintendent of police Babloo Kumar said families of the victims can call on 9454402732 to get details about their relatives.

Chief minister Adityanath has expressed his grief and condolences at the death of the passengers and directed officials to provide all possible medical attention to the injured, his office said in a tweet.

Officials of UPSRTC have said it will pay an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh to the families of those who were killed in the accident.

The 165-km Yamuna Expressway with six lanes connects Delhi with Agra.