Low visibility leads to pile up on Eastern Peripheral Expressway; 4 injured

A 24-year-old truck driver was critically injured after 10 vehicles crashed into each other in a chain collision due to dense fog on the EPE in Greater Noida

Ghaziabad/Noida: Four people were left injured as multiple vehicles crashed into each other in the early hours of Monday in Ghaziabad and Gautam Budh Nagar stretches of the Eastern Peripheral Expressway (EPE) amid dense fog.

Three people were wounded as a 10-vehicle pile up involving cars and commercial vehicles was witnessed near Ikla village stretch of the EPE around 7am. (Sakib Ali/HT Photo)

In Ghaziabad, three people were wounded as a 10-vehicle pile up involving cars and commercial vehicles was witnessed near Ikla village stretch of the EPE around 7am.

The incident occurred on the Dasna to Dadri carriageway of the expressway, prompting police teams to rush to the spot, officials said.

“A light commercial vehicle applied brakes due to dense fog on the stretch, leading to other vehicles getting involved in a pile-up from behind. Three people, including a woman, were injured during the incident that happened due to low visibility conditions on the EPE. Police rushed the injured to a healthcare facility and they are stable,” said Sarvesh Kumar Pal, SHO of Wave City police station, adding that the damaged vehicles were later towed away.

Police identified the injured as Pawan Kumar, 35, a resident of Panipat; Usha Devi, 38, a resident of Kankarkhera, Meerut; and Kapil Kumar, 45, a resident of Mansurpur, Muzaffarnagar.

The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast dense to very dense foggy conditions are likely to prevail “during early hours/morning in isolated pockets of Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh on December 16 and 17”.

In neighbouring Gautam Budh Nagar, a 24-year-old truck driver was critically injured after 10 vehicles crashed into each other in a chain collision due to dense fog on the EPE in Greater Noida.

“Around 9 am, a vehicle driver heading towards Sirsa from the Palwal side suddenly applied brakes, after which another speeding vehicle crashed into it from behind near the 87-km mark of the EPE in Greater Noida. The driver fled the scene along with his vehicle,” said Arvind Kumar, SHO (Ecotech 1).

Police identified the injured as Shah Alam, a resident of Hapur who was driving the truck. “As the accidental vehicle stopped on the main carriageway, another vehicle crashed into it. This way several vehicles, including both light and heavy vehicles, collided with each other at various points,” the SHO added.

The chain collision occurred between the 87-kilometre mark to the 99-kilometre mark, police said.

The damaged vehicles could be removed after three to four hours of efforts, using hydraulic cranes from the highway and traffic was resumed subsequently, officials said, adding around 25km of the EPE stretch falls under Gautam Budh Nagar district.

Meanwhile, 18 vehicles were involved in a pile up on the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Haryana’s Nuh at 7.30 am, killing two people. In Faridabad, two men were killed when a speeding car rammed into a parked container truck on the DND–Faridabad flyway around 8am. Gurugram reported three fog-related accidents.