More than 20 migrant workers killed in road accident in Uttar Pradesh's Auraiya

New Delhi, May 16: On Saturday morning, as many as 24 migrant workers were killed and dozens were injured after the truck they were travelling in collided with another in Auraiya of Uttar Pradesh.

According to reports, Abhishek Singh, Auraiya's district magistrate said that the incident took place at around 3:30 am. 24 people died and around 15-20 have suffered injuries. "Most of them are from Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal," Singh said.

The injured migrants have been shifted to hospital. They were coming from Rajasthan.

In past few days, tens of thousands of people can be seen walking home from big cities after being laid off because of the lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19 since late March.

These workers were left without jobs across several cities and towns in India when the lockdown was announced on March 24. This resulted in the first wave of workers going back to their villages.

The lockdown was extended twice, from April 14 to May 3 and then May 3 to May 17.

Earlier this week, 15 migrant workers, who were on their way back home were killed in three accidents, one each in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

On May 8, as many as 16 migrant workers sleeping on tracks were run over by a goods train in Maharashtra's Aurangabad district.

On May 9, five migrants were killed in Madhya Pradesh's Narsinghpur district when the truck, in which they were travelling, hit the central verge of the road.

Police have said close to 100 were also injured in road accidents across states on Thursday, as migrant workers continue to seek rides on trucks, cycle, or just walk on the country's highways.

Starting May 1, the government announced special trains for migrant workers, but there are still far too few of them and far too many workers wanting to return home. Some of the workers do not have the documentation required to travel while the others have not registered for the trains or buses being run.