Yamuna E-way pile-up: Toll may rise as many bodies charred beyond recognition, says Agra commissioner

70 people who suffered injuries in the mishap were mostly stable and undergoing treatment at a 100-bedded hospital in Vrindavan and at the Mathura district hospital

Confirming 13 deaths in the tragic multi-vehicle accident on the Yamuna Expressway in Uttar Pradesh’s Mathura early on Tuesday in which several vehicles caught fire, commissioner, Agra division, Shailendra Kumar Singh said the toll was likely to rise as many bodies had been charred beyond recognition. He further said 70 people who suffered injuries in the mishap were mostly stable and undergoing treatment at a 100-bedded hospital in Vrindavan and at the Mathura district hospital.

Eight buses, including one roadways bus, were burnt in the fog triggered multiple-vehicle accident on Yamuna E-way. (Sourced)

“It has been revealed that it all began with collision between a car and bus amidst dense fog. Exact reasons are yet to be assigned but it seems that CNG car caught fire because of collision which spread to other vehicles and eight buses, including one roadways bus, were burnt. One of the cars was burnt and one sitting inside died,” Singh said after visiting the spot.

“It was dense fog which led to pile-up of vehicles. There were around 350 passengers in these buses involved in pile up but most of them moved out barring a few who lost their lives in fire. Twelve in the buses and one in a car were among dead. There were two roadways buses in pile but one caught fire and the other was damaged,” he added. “Besides these eight buses and a car, seven other vehicles were involved in the pile up,” the commissioner said.

“Two of the injured have been referred to SN Medical College and Hospital in Agra and are reported to be out of danger. The CM’s directives to ensure proper treatment are being complied with. The DM and the SSP have already met the injured,” Singh added.

“Efforts are being made to identify the deceased and three of them have been identified. It is proving to be a tough task because the bodies have been charred. We are trying to get contact details and informing relatives and will wait for 72 hours and if none turns up, DNA sample will be collected and preserved,” he said while talking to HT.

Most of those in the buses were asleep when they felt a jerk with loud noises of bang and they found their buses trapped in fire. The passengers jumped out of the buses to save themselves but were shocked to find the magnitude of fire.

“We were moving with caution because of dense fog yet had a jerk when our driver applied brakes finding another car stopping abruptly. The two cars collided and by the time we could move out, another vehicle rammed from behind. Fortunately we moved out of the car before it was too late,” said one Shyam Sundar Sharma who along with four others was travelling from Gwalior to Delhi.

Those in another car behind were from Sector 37 of Faridabad and its driver Aman Sharma suffered bruises. Those in the car had gone to Ayodhya and Varanasi but had a narrow escape, said Munesh Yadav, one of the occupants of the car. Two of the buses were of UP roadways, one from Azamgarh depot and other from Kausambhi depot, said a cop at Baldev police station in Mathura.