Two people were killed and 22 injured when a state bus fell off the Yamuna Expressway near Pari Chowk in Uttar Pradesh early on Sunday. According to the Police, Sagar Sharma (25) and Ramkishan (50), from Etawah, were killed instantly. The injured were taken to Kailash Hospital in Greater Noida where they are currently undergoing treatment. The UP Roadways bus from Auraiya depot was headed for Anand Vihar. Police suspect the driver might have dozed off for a while.
The bus hit the divider and fell into the underpass cabin just ahead of Jaypee Sportscity in Greater Noida. Prahlad Yadav, officiating SHO of Dankaur police station, said the driver had suffered severe head injuries and is on ventilator support in ICU. An NSG commando, Yogender Singh (27) hailing from Jalaun, who was one of the passengers, recalled that the incident happened just before 5am.
“Most of the passengers were asleep, but I was awake. Almost all of them were jolted awake when they felt a lot of jerks when the bus ran over the divider. By the time I shouted to alert the driver, who had probably dozed off, the bus had already fallen off into the underpass cabin on the right side of the road,” Singh said. He added that the first responders were the police personnel from UP Dial 100. He said he did not remember who called the police as he had lost consciousness due to a head injury. The injured reached the hospital around 5.30am.
“We reached the hospital around 5.30am. Upon arrival I was given an injection. Since then, I have been sitting around. It has been more than four hours and waiting for a CT scan,” he said. Relatives of victims alleged that hospital authorities refused to admit the injured until fees were paid.
“They were asking us to pay first. I couldn’t immediately pay, so I gave them the reference of Naveen hospital. They started the treatment after that,” said Somesh Kumar. His mother, Lakshmi Devi (48), brother, Sarvesh Kumar, (19) and sister, Upeksha (17) were admitted in the hospital. However, the hospital authorities denied the allegations and said the basic first aid had been given as soon as the patients arrived.
