10 dead, 7 injured as vehicle carrying pilgrims falls into roadside ditch in UP's Pilibhit

Ten pilgrims, including four minors, were killed and seven injured after their vehicle overturned and fell into a roadside ditch in the Gajraula area in this Uttar Pradesh district in the early hours of Thursday, police said.

The deceased have been identified as Laxmi (28), Rachna (28), Sarla Devi (60), Hersh (16), Khushi (two), Sushant (14), Anand (three), Lalman (65), Shyamsundar (55) and the driver of the vehicle, Dilshad (35), they added.

The vehicle was carrying 17 pilgrims from Haridwar and heading towards Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh when it met with the accident on the Lucknow highway at around 4 am.

It seems that the driver dozed off and lost control over the vehicle, police said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has approved an ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of the deceased.

The injured would be given Rs 50,000 each, the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) informed on Twitter.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the loss of lives and directed officials to ensure proper relief-and-rescue work.

According to police, eight of the victims were killed on the spot, while two succumbed to the injuries in a hospital.

''Seventeen people were travelling in the vehicle. Four minors, three women and three men, including the driver, were killed in the incident,'' Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) Amitabh Rai said.

He said three of the injured were referred from the district hospital here to Bareilly.