BUS DRIVER NODS OFF, RAMS SUV ON E-WAY
At least six persons were killed and another 15 injured on Monday when a Bihar Roadways Volvo bus hit an SUV on the Lucknow-agra Expressway after the driver allegedly fell asleep.
› Six people were killed — four travelling in the SUV and two, including the driver, were in the bus. Four of the deceased who were in the SUV are from the Capital. DEVENDRA KUMAR , circle officer
LUCKNOW: At least six persons were killed and another 15 injured when a Volvo bus associated with Bihar Roadways hit a sports utility vehicle (SUV) on the Lucknow-agra Expressway in Makanpur village near Kanpur on Monday night.
The sleeper bus, which started off from Delhi, was on its way to Muzaffarpur district in Bihar when the driver fell asleep at the wheel and crossed the divider to hit a Toyota Fortuner coming from the opposite side. The bus crossed the divider and fell into the service lane, said an official.
It appears that the bus was speeding and crossed the lane as the driver lost control of the vehicle, added a police officer.
Circle officer Devendra Kumar said, “Six people were killed — four travelling in the SUV and two, including the driver, were in the bus. Four of the deceased who were in the SUV are from Delhi,” he added.
The dead have been identified as Surjeet Singh, Sunny — both of Chilla village, Mayur Vihar, New Delhi; Vikram of Trilokpuri and Mukesh Kumar of Acharya Niketan, New Delhi. Driver
Ramashankar belonged to Lalganj area of Pratapgarh and Jitender was from Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh.
One of the passengers told police that the driver had stopped the bus five minutes before the incident perhaps because he was feeling sleepy. Local residents were the first to reach the accident spot, said a policeman.
A state government official said, “The private bus is attached to Bihar State Road Transport Corporation.”
This is second accident in the region within two days. A day before, seven persons were burnt to death in Unnao when a truck hit a Maruti Omni van, which caught fire.