Kanpur: Six people were killed and seven injured after an off-duty electric bus rammed into multiple vehicles here, officials said Monday. The toll may rise as the conditions of some of those injured are critical, they added. The accident occurred around 10.30pm Sunday night.
President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and several other political leaders expressed grief over the incident. The accident happened in the Rail Bazar area.
The private agency engaged for electric bus operations has extended a financial assistance of Rs 5,00,000 to the families of the deceased, Rs 1 lakh to the severely injured and Rs 50,000 to those with minor injuries in the crash, the officials said.
According to witnesses, the driver of the bus moved it onto the wrong side of the road. The bus then rammed into auto-rickshaws, motorcycles, cars and a traffic booth between Ghantaghar and Tat Mill Crossing. The bus then hit a truck and broke down, officials said.
The driver of the bus, identified as Satendra Kumar Singh, has been arrested, the police said. Deputy Commissioner of Police (East) Pramod Kumar confirmed the casualties in the accident. Kumar rushed to the site late in the night. He said several cars and motorcycles were damaged and that the driver of the bus was being interrogated.
Monday evening, Divisional Commissioner Kanpur Raj Shekhar said that of the seven injured, the three in critical condition are hospitalized. The remaining four were discharged after basic treatment. He said that at the time of the incident, there were no passengers or conductor on the bus. The driver was taking it to the charging depot Ahirwan after the day’s schedule when the accident took place.
