Tragic Highway Crash Claims Seven Lives in Uttar Pradesh's Azamgarh

Lucknow, January 8 (TNA) Seven people, including women and children, were killed and several others injured in a horrific road accident on the Purvanchal Expressway near Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh early on Thursday, when their speeding SUV collided head-on with a truck.

The victims hailed from Bihar’s Saran district and were en route to Ayodhya for darshan when the tragedy unfolded around 4:30 AM near Sikandarpur police station limits, with police suspecting dense fog and overspeeding as primary causes.

Eyewitnesses reported the SUV veered into the wrong lane amid low visibility, leading to the fatal smash-up that left the vehicle mangled; locals and police rushed to extricate the trapped occupants using cutters, rushing the injured to a nearby hospital where five succumbed later.

The deceased included the driver Rajesh Kumar (35), his wife Rekha Devi (32), their two children aged 8 and 5, along with relatives Gaurav (19), Jitendra (20), and another family member, with post-mortems underway and FIR registered under reckless driving charges.