Ten people, including two women, on Monday morning were killed when a speeding truck rammed into another passenger vehicle on the Pilibhit-Basti highway in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district, police said.
The accident took place around 7:30am near Adlishpur village, nearly 40 kilometres from the district headquarters.
Dharauhra Circle Officer (CO) Shamsher Bahadur Singh said the truck has been seized and efforts are underway to trace the absconding driver.
“The collision was extremely severe. Police teams reached the spot immediately after receiving information. The truck has been seized and a search is on for the driver, who fled after the accident,” the official said.
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CHC Khamaria superintendent Dr Amit Kumar Singh said nine victims — including two women and seven men — were brought dead to the community health centre, while another critically injured man later succumbed during treatment at the district hospital.
“Several bodies were badly crushed due to the impact of the collision. One critically injured man was referred to the district hospital, where he later died,” Dr Singh said.
According to police and eyewitnesses, the passenger vehicle was travelling from Lakhimpur towards Sisaiya when the truck, coming from the opposite direction from Bahraich side, allegedly lost control and crashed head-on into it. The impact dragged the passenger vehicle nearly ten feet from the collision point.
Eyewitnesses said several passengers suffered severe head injuries, while some got trapped between the seats. Two occupants were reportedly thrown out onto the road due to the force of the crash.
Residents rushed to the spot and informed police before rescue operations were launched. Police later sent the bodies for postmortem examination and initiated investigation into the incident.
