Two major tragic accidents were reported from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan on Wednesday morning. A total of 13 people have died in these two accidents so far, and approximately 44 have been seriously injured.
According to the latest annual report from the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), approximately 485 people die in road accidents in India every day, and at least 20 people die every hour.
Expressways and highways are built to reduce travel time, but the question arises: what good is saving time if lives aren't saved? These accidents on the Delhi-Mumbai and Agra-Lucknow Expressway also highlight this question.
8 People Died in Rajasthan Road Accident
A private bus going from Haridwar to Indore collided with a trailer on Wednesday, July 1, at 2-3 am and then went out of control and fell into a ditch, where after some time a massive fire broke out in the rear portion of the bus.
According to witnesses, most of the passengers were sleeping at the time of the accident. When the bus collided with the trailer, passengers sleeping on the upper berths were thrown off, leaving approximately 25 seriously injured and eight dead.
The accident occurred near a rest area in the Kolwa police station area on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway near Dausa, Rajasthan.
According to officials, six people died in the accident after being burned alive inside the bus, and the bodies were so badly charred that police are facing challenges in determining their identities and ages.
One of the two people who died from serious head injuries has been identified as Dharmendra. Efforts are still underway to identify the remaining deceased. The Kolwa police station is investigating the cause of the accident.
Another incident on the same morning
Similar tragic scenes have emerged from Uttar Pradesh. A speeding bus lost control and collided with a car on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway in Unnao district at around 5 am. The impact was so severe that five of the eight people in the car died.
The deceased were Divya (13), Amrita (5), Anju (40), Dhunmun (60), and the car driver, Vinod (45).
The speeding sleeper bus first hit the car. It then went out of control, smashed the divider grill, and fell into a ditch. More than 17 people were seriously injured when the bus overturned.
Over 1.6 lakh deaths recorded
Over 1.6 lakh people have lost their lives in road accidents on highways and expressways in Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan in the last five years. This number is over 1,08,882 in Uttar Pradesh, while in Rajasthan it is over 54,815.
According to MoRTH, these accidents are mainly caused by overspeeding, driving in the wrong direction, and violating traffic rules.
"Two major tragic accidents were reported from Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan on Wednesday morning. A total of 13 people have died in these two …"