NEW DELHI, June 9 (Xinhua) -- At least 17 people were killed and several others injured, some of them critically, after a bus collided with a loader vehicle in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, police said Wednesday.
The accident took place late Tuesday evening at Kisan Nagar in Kanpur Nagar district, about 110 km southwest of Lucknow, the capital city of Uttar Pradesh.
"Late last evening there was a collision between a speeding bus and a loader, following which bus overturned and fell into a ditch," a senior police official in Kanpur, Mohit Aggarwal told media. "Sixteen were declared brought dead to the hospital, while one succumbed during treatment."
Several others injured in the accident have been removed to the nearest hospital.
"The collision was so strong that almost all passengers of the bus got trapped and sustained serious injuries," a police official said. "The rescuers had to struggle hard to take victims from the damaged bus."
The rescue work was going on until early Wednesday.
According to police, the bus was coming from Lucknow and heading towards Delhi.
Police said the bus was carrying labourers who were heading to Gujarat for work, while as those in the loader vehicle were workers working in a local biscuit factory.
Police have registered a case and said a detailed investigation would be conducted to ascertain the cause of the deadly accident.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has expressed grief over the accident, and announced a compensation of INR 200,000 (2,740 U.S. dollars) to each family that lost a member in the accident.
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has also expressed sadness over the loss of lives in the accident.
"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia of INR 2 lakh (2,740 U.S. dollars) each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of those who have lost their lives due to a tragic accident in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh. INR 50,000 (658 U.S. dollars) would be provided to those injured," reads a statement issued by the Prime Minister's Office.
Deadly road accidents are common in India often caused by overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.
According to federal road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, averagely 415 people die in the country due to road accidents every day.
