24 labourers killed after trucks collide in Auraiya; PM Narendra Modi, UP CM express grief

NEW DELHI: In a tragic incident, at least 24 labourers, who were heading home amid the coronavirus lockdown, were killed and several others injured after the truck they were traveling in collided with another truck in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday. 

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has expressed grief over the tragic road mishap. 

उत्तर प्रदेश के औरैया में सड़क दुर्घटना बेहद ही दुखद है। सरकार राहत कार्य में तत्परता से जुटी है। इस हादसे में मारे गए लोगों के परिजनों के प्रति अपनी संवेदना प्रकट करता हूं, साथ ही घायलों के जल्द से जल्द स्वस्थ होने की कामना करता हूं। — Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) May 16, 2020

News agency PTI quoted UP Police as saying at least 24 migrant labourers have been killed and 15 injured in Auraiya truck accident. The trailer truck, which was carrying around 50 migrant labourers, was coming from Rajasthan when it collided with a DCM van coming from Delhi, the police said.

Police and district officials immediately reached the accident site after getting the information about it and started the rescue operation with the help of local residents, who had gathered in large numbers there.

Those injured have been shifted to the hospital. They are migrant labourers from Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal and were headed to their homes from Rajasthan. Giving more details, Archana Srivastava, Chief Medical Officer (CMO) Auraiya, said, ''24 people were brought dead, 22 have been admitted and 15 who were critically injured have been referred to Saifai PGI.'' 

Confirming the development, Auraiya District Magistrate Abhishek Singh earlier said, ''The incident took place at around 3:30 AM. 21 people have died and around 15-20 have suffered injuries. Most of them are from Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.'' 

''State's Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken note of the unfortunate incident in Auraiya. He has expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the labourers who lost their lives,'' Additional Chief Secretary (Home) Awanish Awasthi said.

Awasthi also informed the Chief Minister has also directed that all the injured be provided medical care immediately and the Commissioner and IG Kanpur to visit the site and give the report on the cause of the accident immediately. The CM has also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakhs for families of deceased persons & Rs 50,000 for injured, he added.

Acting on the orders of the Chief Minister, Mohit Agarwal, Inspector General (IG), Kanpur inspected the spot of the accident. He will submit a detailed report on the cause of the accident to the CMO soon.

Meanwhile, the state government has suspended Fatehpur Sikri Agra, SHO and Kosi Kalan, Mathura SHO with immediate effect on directions of CM Yogi Adityanath. 

The tragic mishap took place days after several migrant workers were killed in two separate road mishaps in Madhya Pradesh's Guna and in Muzaffarnagar in UP.

At least eight migrant workers were killed and 54 got seriously injured after the truck they were traveling in collided with a bus in Guna district of Madhya Pradesh on Thursday (May 14) morning. The deceased belonged to Uttar Pradesh and were returning to their home state from Maharashtra amid the coronavirus COVID-19 lockdown when they met with the accident.

In the second road mishap, at least six migrant workers were killed near Muzaffarnagar after being hit by a UPSRTC bus on Wednesday (May 13) night.

The accident took place at Muzaffarnagar-Saharanpur state highway at around 11 PM. The victims were from Bihar's Gopalganj and they were walking back to their home state from Punjab where they used to work as daily wage labourers.