Five dead in UP as ambulance hits pick-up vehicle

An ambulance transporting a body and family members of the deceased rammed into a pick-up vehicle on the Purvanchal Expressway in Amethi on Sunday, 15 June, killing five persons, a police official said.

The accident took place when the ambulance was transporting the body from Haryana to Bihar.

Five people travelling in the ambulance died in the collision, while one person was seriously injured. The injured has been admitted to the district hospital, SHO of Bazar Shukul police station Abhinesh Kumar said.

The injured has been identified as Shambhu Rai of Samastipur district of Bihar.

According to the police, the deceased have been identified as Rajkumar Sharma alias Satish Sharma, Ravi Sharma and Phoolo Sharma, residents of Samastipur district of Bihar, besides Sarfaraz and Abid (both drivers), who are residents of Haryana.

Additional superintendent of police (ASP) Shailendra Kumar Singh said the ambulance was going from Haryana to Samastipur with the body of Ashok Sharma, a resident of Rambhadrapur of Samastipur. There were two drivers and four family members in the ambulance.

The additional SP said the ambulance hit the pickup from behind.

The bodies of the deceased have been sent for postmortem.

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the loss of lives.

In a post on X in Hindi, the chief minister's office said, "#UPCM @myogiadityanath has taken cognizance of the road accident in Amethi district. He has expressed condolences to the bereaved families of the deceased."

"The chief minister has directed the district administration officials to immediately take the injured to the hospital and provide them with proper treatment. He also wished for the speedy recovery of the injured," it said.