Four people, including an elderly couple, lost their lives and two others sustained serious injuries when their speeding car collided with a stationary truck on Saturday in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur district, police said. The tragic accident occurred on National Highway-2 near the Sujanipur crossing in Khaga, Fatehpur. According to police, the elderly couple and their family members were en route to Prayagraj to immerse the ashes of their deceased son in the Ganga River.
Upon receiving information about the incident, police teams rushed to the scene. Officers broke the car’s windows to rescue the passengers trapped inside. Superintendent of Police (SP) Dhawal Jaiswal said that three of the occupants were found dead on the spot.
Three other individuals, including a young woman and a child, were rushed to the Community Health Centre (CHC) in Hardoi for treatment. However, one of them was declared dead upon arrival, the SP added.
The deceased have been identified as Ram Kumar Bhargawa, 71, a retired railway official; his wife Kamlesh Bhargawa, 67; their son-in-law Prag Chaubey, 50; and Shubham Yadav, 35, who was driving the vehicle. All the deceased were residents of the Jhansi district.
The survivors, identified as 36-year-old Charu Bhargawa, a software engineer, and her 12-year-old son, Kashvik, were later shifted to the district hospital in Fatehpur. Their condition is reported to be critical.
SP Jaiswal informed that the tragedy had its roots in another misfortune. Ram Kumar’s younger son, Aditya Bhargawa, an engineer, had recently drowned while taking a holy dip in the river during a visit to the Omkareshwar Temple in Madhya Pradesh. His body was recovered on Wednesday, and the funeral was conducted on Thursday.
The grieving family was on its way to Prayagraj with Aditya’s ashes for immersion in the Ganga when the fatal accident took place.
The SP further stated that a case has been registered in connection with the incident, and an investigation is underway. A massive search operation has also been launched to trace the truck driver, who fled the scene along with the vehicle following the crash.
(PTI inputs)