LUCKNOW: Five persons on two motorcycles were killed when a speeding loader, coming from the wrong side, hit their two-wheelers on Barabanki-Bahraich highway under the Masauli police station of Barabanki at around 3:30 pm on Saturday. CM Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the death of the victims.
The deceased were identified as Deepak Kumar Gautam, (18), Abhishek (24) and their uncle Shubhkaran Kumar (30), all of Kinhauli village in Masauli and Prashant Dwivedi (23) and Pankaj Mishra (22) of Lakhperabagh, Barabanki. Pankaj was native of Gonda district and was staying in Lakhperabagh locality.
SP, Barabanki, Anurag Vats said that the accident occurred when the loader driver overtook a roadways bus from the wrong side. The victims were going towards Ram Nagar locality in Barabanki, while the loader was coming from Ramnagar side. Eyewitnesses told the police that the victims were tossed up in the air before falling at the roadside. They four of died on the spot, while the fifth died at the district hospital in Barabanki. “The loader driver stopped the vehicle few metres away from the accident spot and escaped,” the eyewitnesses said. He was, however, arrested after some time.
“It surfaced during investigation that Shubhkaran (loader driver) along with his nephews was going to unload fertilizers in Bindaura locality. Deceased Prashant and Pankaj were going to offer ‘puja’ at Lodheshwar Baba temple. Prashant worked as delivery boy for an online shopping company and was staying in a house owned by Pankaj’s brother,” the police added.
