12 people were killed after an autorickshaw they were riding collided head-on with a container truck coming from the opposite side of the road on the Bareilly-Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur.

Uttar Pradesh Accident: In a horrifying road apparently caused due to dense fog, three women among 12 people were killed after an autorickshaw they were riding, collided head-on with a container truck coming from the opposite side of the road on the Bareilly-Farrukhabad in Uttar Pradesh’s Shahjahanpur on Thursday morning.

According to the police, a container truck, which was plying on the the wrong side of the road, crashed head-on with an autorickshaw, amid reduced visibility due to fog. All twelve passengers aboard the rickshaw, who were heading to Farrukhabad to take a bath in the Ganga river on the occasion of ‘Purnima’, were killed in the mishap, they said.

Visuals of the incident shared on social media platforms showed the mangled remains of the autorickshaw as police and emergency services inspect the spot.

12 people died in an accident in #UttarPradesh

Big road #Accident in Shahjahanpur

12 people died in collision between tanker and tempo

Collision between tanker and tempo due to dense fog

Incident on Farrukhabad road of Allahganj area 1/2 pic.twitter.com/jkg6dUUxYs

— Siraj Noorani (@sirajnoorani) January 25, 2024

Giving details, a senior police officer said the tragic mishap occurred on the Bareilly-Farrukhabad road near Sugsugi village in the Allahaganj police station area, about 50 kilometres from the city.

“The container hit the autorickshaw coming from the Jalalabad side, killing all 12 passengers, who were going to Ghatia Ghat, Farrukhabad to take a bath in the Ganga on the occasion of ‘Purnima’, on the spot,” Superintendent of Police (SP) Ashok Kumar Meena told news agency PTI.

The officer had earlier said that autorickshaw had collided with a tanker, however, after reaching the spot, the SP said it was found that the autorickshaw was hit by a container truck.

The deceased were identified as Lalaram (30) and his brother Puttu Lal (50), Shivpal (45), Surendra Kashyap (50), Ankush (50), Anant Ram (35) and his wife Basanta Devi (70), Maniram (45), Pothiram (50), Rampa Devi (45), Rupa Devi (50) and Adesh (20), SP Meena said.

Police said the truck driver fled the spot after the accident and his vehicle was later found abandoned 12 kilometres away from the scene, adding that efforts are underway to arrest the absconding driver.

Reports quoting eyewitnesses revealed horrific accounts of the accident, stating that passengers of the autorickshaw were violently thrown on the road due to the impact of the collision and some got stuck between the two vehicles.

They said that the autorickshaw got stuck under the container truck, and in a bid to free the rickshaw from under the vehicle, the truck driver moved his vehicle back and forth, crushing the injured passengers lying on the road.

(With PTI inputs)