Nine students were run over by a bus on Agra-Lucknow Expressway near Kannauj in Uttar Pradesh on Monday morning. Among them six were dead and three were admitted to hospital in critical condition.
According to a police spokesperson, the accident took place in Tirwa area of the district at around 4.00 am. "The accident occurred when students were filling diesel from one bus to another, and were run over by another bus which was passing by. The students, who studied at a college in Sant Kabir Nagar, were going on a trip to Haridwar with their teachers. As the bus they were travelling in ran out of diesel, the driver stopped the vehicle on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway near Kannauj. Meanwhile, CM Yogi Adityanath announced Rs 2 lakhs each for the kin of those killed in the bus accident in Kannauj. Rs 50,000 each for those injured. The CM has also asked officials to file an FIR in the matter and ensure proper medical facility to the injured persons. There has been a spate of accidents on the expressway ever since it was its inauguration in late 2016. One reason could be the fact that there is 100% more traffic on it than was projected. As per a report in The Times of India, against a projection of around 6,000 vehicles per day, the access controlled expressway received an average of 12,000 vehicles per day during the months of November and December in 2017. This was the time when no toll was charged from commuters.