Dense fog led to UP bus mishap: Report

Tribune News Service

Lucknow, January 11

At least 10 persons died and several others received serious burn injuries when a private sleeper double-decker bus burst into flames after colliding with a truck in Uttar Pradesh’s Kannauj district, an official said on Saturday.

Dense fog reportedly caused the “unintended accident”, claimed a transport department inquiry into the head-on collision between the bus and truck.

Kanpur IG Mohit Agarwal said the recovered bodies were so badly charred that even the bones had disintegrated.

“Prima face, bodies of eight to 10 people were retrieved from the bus. The damage is so extensive that causalities can be determined only through a DNA test,” he added.

The IG said, “In all probability 45 passengers were travelling in the bus of which 25 persons have been rescued, 13 are under treatment at Tirwa Medical College in Kannauj, two are completely safe and there seems to be no account of around 18 to 20 who may have perished or are missing.”

According to the transport department preliminary report, the bus and truck both had valid papers and fitness certificates. The collision had occurred in a narrow 10-m broad stretch of GT Road near Ghilori bazaar.