Five killed, 11 injured as tempo carrying family collides with bus in UP's Bahraich
Bahraich (UP), Apr 15 (PTI): Five members of a family, including two children, were killed and 11 others injured when a double-decker bus collided head-on with a tempo on the Bahraich-Gonda highway on Tuesday, an official said.
All the victims were relatives and were heading to attend a family function when the accident occurred, District Magistrate Monika Rani said.
The incident took place near Payagpur when the tempo carrying 16 people from Hirai Purwa village collided with the bus coming from the opposite direction.
"The family was heading to Koluhwa village to attend a wedding reception. The tempo driver was trying to overtake a tractor when it collided with the bus,” Monika Rani told reporters.
The deceased have been identified as Amjad (45), Fahad (5), Azim (12), Maryam (65), and Munni (45). All five died on the spot, the official said.
The injured, all women and children, have been admitted to the Maharishi Balark district hospital in Bahraich. According to hospital sources, their condition is stable but some of them remain under observation.
Speaking to reporters at the hospital, the mother of one of the deceased children said, "We had booked the tempo to attend the wedding reception of Mohammad Yakub in Koluhwa. All of us were from the same family. Five of our family members have died, while several others are in serious condition."
Monika Rani and SP Ramnayan Singh visited the hospital to take stock of the situation, sources said.
“We have instructed the medical staff to provide all necessary treatment to the victims," Monika Rani said. ASP (City) Ramanand Prasad Kushwaha said the injured have been identified as Zainab (58), Nisha (36), Saba (15), Wajid (4), Sania (22), Tabassum (18), Alsifa (50), Wajihat (18), Aleemunisha (40), Najam (45) and Zaituna (65), all residents of Hirai Pur village.
Tempo driver Amjad, who was killed in the accident, was also a resident of the same village, the officer said. Kushwaha said the double-decker bus, which plies on the Delhi-Gonda route, was heading to Gonda after dropping passengers. There were no passengers on the bus at the time of the accident.
The driver of the bus, along with the vehicle, has been taken into custody, the officer said, adding that police have launched a probe after sending the bodies for autopsy.
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Indian mobile hospital treats over 2,200 cyclone-hit people as New Delhi ramps up relief efforts in
Colombo (PTI): A mobile hospital set up by India in Sri Lanka has provided medical care to over 2,200 people affected by Cyclone Ditwah, as New Delhi ramped up its assistance to the flood-ravaged island nation with engineering support and delivery of fresh relief consignments, the Indian mission here said on Sunday.
Sri Lanka has been grappling with widespread flooding, landslides and severe infrastructure collapse triggered by the cyclone, leaving several districts isolated and severely straining the country's disaster-response capacity.
At least 627 people have been killed and 190 remain missing as of Sunday noon due to catastrophic floods and landslides caused by extreme weather conditions since November 16.
Sharing a social media post by the Ministry of External Affairs on its X handle, the Indian High Commission said a field hospital set up by India in Mahiyanganaya near Kandy has provided medical care to more than 2,200 people affected by the cyclone since December 5.
The hospital has also performed 67 minor procedures and three surgeries, it said. The field hospital was airlifted to Sri Lanka by an IAF C-17 aircraft along with a 78-member Indian medical team on Tuesday.
In another post, the mission said Indian Army engineers, working with Sri Lanka Army Engineers and the Road Development Authority, in Kilinochchi have begun removing a damaged bridge on the Paranthan–Karachchi–Mullaitivu (A35) road, a key route disrupted by the cyclone.
"This joint effort marks another step toward restoring vital connectivity for affected communities," it said.
India has additionally sent nearly 1,000 tonnes of food items and clothing contributed by the people of Tamil Nadu. Of these, about 300 tonnes reached Colombo on Sunday morning aboard three Indian Naval ships.
High Commissioner Santosh Jha handed over the supplies to Sri Lankan Minister for Trade, Commerce, Food Security and Cooperative Development Wasantha Samarasinghe.
India, on November 28, launched 'Operation Sagar Bandhu', a Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) initiative, to aid Sri Lanka in its recovery from the devastation caused by Cyclone Ditwah.
Since the launch of the operation, India has provided about 58 tonnes of relief material, including dry rations, tents, tarpaulins, hygiene kits, essential cloths, water purification kits and about 4.5 tonnes of medicines and surgical equipment, the Indian mission said in a press release on Sunday.
Another 60 tonnes of equipment, including generators, inflatable rescue boats, Outboard Motors, and excavators, have also been brought to Sri Lanka, it said, adding that 185 tonnes of Bailey Bridge units were airlifted to restore critical connectivity along with 44 engineers.
Two columns of the National Disaster Response Force, comprising 80 experts and K9 units with specially trained dogs, assisted with immediate rescue and relief efforts in Sri Lanka.
Besides the field hospital in Mahiyanganaya, medical centres have also been set up in the badly hit Ja-Ela region and in Negombo. INS Vikrant, INS Udaygiri, and INS Sukanya provided immediate rescue and relief assistance to Sri Lanka.
Apart from the two Chetak helicopters deployed from INS Vikrant, two heavy-lift, MI-17 helicopters of the Indian Air Force are actively involved in evacuations and airlifting relief material, the release said.
At the request of the Sri Lankan Disaster Management Centre, a virtual meeting was organised between DMC and the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)'s National Remote Sensing Centre on Saturday.
Since the onset of the disaster, ISRO has been providing maps to assist DMC in its rescue efforts, the release said.
