Four die as bus catches fire after hitting divider on Lucknow-Agra highway

india

Updated: Mar 26, 2019 00:32 IST

Four people, including a doctor and her six-year-old daughter, were charred to death early on Monday when a roadways bus they were travelling in caught fire after hitting a divider on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway, police said.

The air-conditioned bus of the UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) bus, with seven people on board, was on its way to Lucknow from Delhi when the incident took place near the expressway’s 77th milestone, which falls under Karhal police station area in Mainpuri district, at around 1am.

The deceased have been identified as Dr Jyoti Nirvan, 38, her daughter Niti, bus driver Israr Ahmed, 32, and conductor Dhananjay Maurya. Dr Nirvan was associated with Lucknow’s Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences where her husband, too, is working as a paediatrician.

Karhal police station incharge Rajesh Pal Singh said, “The Delhi-Lucknow roadways bus left Anand Vihar bus terminus in Delhi on Sunday night. There were two drivers, a conductor and four passengers in the bus.”

Singh said the driver hit a divider while trying to overtake another bus after which the engine of the first bus caught fire.

“A passenger and her child were burnt alive. A driver and the conductor who were sleeping in the bus also died,” Singh said.

Driver Ahmed belonged to UP’s Bulandshahr while conductor Maurya was from Pratapgarh, police said.

The other driver and two passengers sustained burns and were admitted to Saifai Medical College.

In another accident on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway, at least 20 persons were injured when a private bus overturned in Dauki police station area of Agra.

The bus was heading to Delhi from Azamgarh.

“The bus driver lost control on the vehicle at a bend and overturned. At least 20 people were injured,” Pradeep Kumar, incharge of Dauki police station, said.

“A crane was called in to remove the bus from the road after which traffic movement was restored,” Kumar said.