Fourteen people, including six children, of a wedding party, were killed and few others injured when the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a parked truck in Pratapgarh district of Uttar Pradesh late on Thursday night, officials said.
The accident took place at a spot on the Prayagraj-Lucknow highway under Manikpur police station of the district, police said.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed grief over the road accident and directed senior officials to reach the spot and provide all possible assistance.
Pratapgarh's superintendent of police, Anurag Arya said the primary investigation suggested that the accident took place when the SUV driver failed to spot the stationary truck and collided with it from behind on the highway near Deshraj Ka Inara village, reported Hindustan Times. The report stated that the passengers trapped in the SUV were taken out and moved to the community health centre (CHC) in Kunda where 14 of them were declared dead on arrival. The dead included women and children, Arya added.
The deceased have been identified as Dinesh Kumar (40), Pawan Kumar (10), Dayaram (40), Aman (7), Ramsamujh (40), Ansh (9), Gaurav Kumar (10), Naan Bhaiya (55), Sachin (12), Himanshu (12), Mithilesh Kumar (17), Abhimanyu (28), Parasnath (40) and the driver of the Bolero Bablu (22).
Police said that twelve of the deceased are from Jigrapur village while two along with driver are from another village. They had gone to attend a wedding at Shekhpur village in Nawabganj area and were coming back when the accident took place.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath announces a compensation of Rs 2 lakhs each to next of the kin of the deceased, who lost their lives in the Pratapgarh road accident.
