Truck driver burnt alive after collision amid dense fog on UP highway
Etawah (PTI): A truck driver was burnt alive after two trucks collided amid dense fog on the Agra-Etawah-Kanpur six-lane highway here, police said on Friday.
The accident occurred late Thursday night near the Pakka Bagh overbridge on National Highway-2.
Police said a truck carrying gypsum from Ahlanabad in Haryana to Varanasi rammed into another truck ahead of it after the latter suddenly applied brakes amid poor visibility due to dense fog.
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Following the collision, the truck loaded with gypsum caught fire, which quickly spread to the cabin. The driver remained trapped inside the cabin and was engulfed by flames, resulting in his death on the spot, police said.
Passersby informed the police and fire brigade about the blaze. Three fire tenders were rushed to the spot and firefighters managed to douse the fire after nearly an hour of strenuous efforts. By then, the cabin of the truck had been completely gutted.
The incident and subsequent firefighting operations led to disruption of traffic on the busy highway for several hours, police said.
After the fire was extinguished, police recovered the charred remains of the driver from the burnt cabin. The deceased was identified as Jaskirat Singh alias Lovely, a resident of Sirsa in Haryana, by the driver of another truck travelling behind, police said.
Police said the collision occurred due to sudden braking by the truck ahead in dense fog, leaving the following driver with little time to react. A crane was later used to remove the burnt truck from the road and traffic was restored.
The remains of the deceased have been sent for postmortem examination after completing necessary formalities, police added.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
