A woman lost her life and 15 others, including seven children, were reportedly injured in a multi-vehicle collision on the Dehradun-Haridwar National Highway in Uttarakhand, police said on Monday.
The accident took place late on Sunday night on the Motichur flyover near Hotel Godwin. An Uttarakhand Roadways bus travelling from Raiwala to Haridwar first hit a tractor-trolley from behind. Soon after, a Scorpio and two other vehicles crashed into the bus, leading to a major pile-up.
According to police, the impact of the collision could have caused the Scorpio’s CNG cylinder to explode and catch fire, which also damaged nearby vehicles.
As the fire broke out, thick smoke spread across the accident site, triggering panic among commuters. People rushed out of their vehicles and ran to safety. Firefighters soon reached the spot and managed to bring the blaze under control.
Police said a woman was crushed under the wheels of the tractor-trolley during the accident and died on the spot. She has been identified as Kusum (30), from Najibabad in Uttar Pradesh.
Fifteen people travelling on the tractor-trolley were also injured. Police and firefighters rushed them to a hospital in Haridwar.
The accident also triggered a traffic jam stretching nearly a kilometre. Vehicular movement was restored after several hours, once the damaged vehicles were cleared from the road.
Police said all the victims were residents of Bijnor and Najibabad in Uttar Pradesh. They were returning home in a tractor-trolley after attending the Jhanda Mela in Dehradun. The injured included four women and seven children below the age of 12. The tractor-trolley driver, Qasim (23), of Shamli in Muzaffarnagar, was also hurt in the accident.
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