Lucknow: Sleeper bus rams into truck near Golf City, passenger dies

LUCKNOW: A passenger died and 29 others, including a child, were injured when a Delhi-bound private bus rammed into a truck on Sultanpur highway near Sushant Golf City in the wee hours of Saturday. The sleeper bus was coming from Muzaffarpur in Bihar.

According to the police, most of the passengers work with private companies in Delhi.

The accident occurred when the sleeper bus with 70 passengers, including two women and a child, on board rammed into the rear of a truck carrying iron rods. However, injured passengers told TOI that there were more than 100 passengers in the bus.

The injured, including the driver, were taken to RML Institute of Medical Sciences and SPM Civil hospital . While 15 passengers were hospitalised, 14 others were discharged after being given the first-aid. Four injured persons have suffered multiple fractures but are out of danger, doctors said.

Those who escaped unhurt took alternative modes of transport for onward journey.

The deceased was identified as Mohammad Wahid, 45, of Madhubani in Bihar. He was the sole bread earner of his family. He is survived by three children including a 10-year-old differently abled boy.

Deputy commissioner of police, South Zone, Rahul Raj said the bus rammed into the truck when the latter was being reversed to enter at a weighbridge.

"Preliminary investigation suggests that bus driver Raju Kushwaha was driving at a high speed and failed to apply brakes in time. The truck driver fled leaving his vehicle behind. The truck has been seized," said SHO, Sushant Golf City, Shailendra Giri .

Raju Kushwaha was admitted to RMLIMS but his family took him to a hospital in Agra in an ambulance. "Bus was overloaded. We had confronted the driver in Muzaffarpur about it but he bluntly told us to travel or deboard," said a passenger.

Another victim, Ajay Kumar, 32, of Samastipur , said: "I was asleep when the accident occurred and when I regained consciousness I found myself in the hospital."