17 killed, 55 injured in six road accidents across U.P. a day after Diwali

At least 17 people were killed and 55 others injured in six separate road accidents across Uttar Pradesh on Monday (November 9, 2026), a day after Diwali celebrations, with several crashes occurring in the early morning hours, officials said.The deadliest of these accidents occurred in Muzaffarnagar, where six people were burnt alive after their car overturned and caught fire following a collision with a divider and an electric pole. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also took cognisance of the incident, offering condolences and directing local officials to extend all possible help to the victims' families by establishing dialogue with them.In Chitrakoot, four people, including two children, were killed and 12 injured after a tractor-trolley overturned, while three people died and 41 others were injured after a bus veered off the Lucknow-Agra Expressway.Several of these accidents occurred before sunrise, when visibility might have been affected by the onset of the winter season and increased pollution levels in the State. Authorities suspect reduced visibility could have contributed to some of the crashes, although it is yet to be established in these cases so far.The Muzaffarnagar car accident occurred at around 4.50 a.m. near Jagahedi village under the Titawi police station area on the Panipat-Khatima highway.The victims were identified as Rahul (22), Ankit (21), Sahil (22), who was driving the car, Ajay (22), another person named Ankit (22) and Aman (19), all residents of Hisar in Haryana, and they were on their way to Haridwar when the accident occurred.SSP Suraj Kumar Rai said the car was suspected to have been travelling at high speed when the driver lost control.SP (Rural) Akshay Sanjay said police personnel and fire brigade teams rushed to the spot after receiving information at around 4.50 a.m., adding that occupants were taken to the district hospital, where doctors declared them dead.In the Chitrakoot tractor-trolley accident that killed four people, including two children, the victims were returning after visiting religious places when the vehicle's coupling mechanism (hook) came off, causing the trolley to lose control and overturn on the roadside, according to District Magistrate Pulkit Garg. The occupants were trapped underneath the overturned trolley.The incident occurred at around 2.30 a.m. near Ramnagar in Mau tehsil.Mr. Garg said Raipura police and officers deployed on fair duty rushed to the spot, and the injured were taken to the community health centre in Ramnagar, where doctors declared four people dead. Of the 12 injured, seven were seriously hurt and five sustained minor injuries. All were referred to a higher medical centre in Prayagraj after primary treatment, the DM said.The tractor-trolley was carrying around 25 people, including members of a family from Madhya Pradesh's Rewa district, he added.In Lucknow, three people were killed, and 41 injured after a bus travelling from Beawar in Rajasthan to Chhapra in Bihar lost control and overturned into a ditch near the Zero Point of the Lucknow-Agra Expressway between 6 and 6.30 a.m.Deputy Chief Minister and Health Minister Brajesh Pathak said three injured passengers were declared dead at hospitals, with two deaths reported at Lok Bandhu Hospital and one at King George's Medical University (KGMU).He said arrangements had been made to ensure proper treatment for all the injured, and their families were being informed through the district administration.Police identified two of the deceased as Shankar Rajjak (63) and Shamli Rai (43), both residents of Chhapra. The identity of the third victim, an approximately 35-year-old man, was yet to be established.Later, in a letter addressed to the additional chief secretary (home), transport commissioner, chief executive officer of UPEIDA and managing director of UPSRTC, the Deputy Chief Minister called for a coordinated policy to enforce speed limits on state expressways, conduct periodic counselling of drivers, and make pre-entry health checks mandatory to ensure they had not consumed intoxicating substances.In Shahjahanpur, the conductor and helper of a private bus were crushed to death by an unidentified truck after they got down to inspect the vehicle on the Ganga Expressway.The incident occurred around 3 km from the Jalalabad toll plaza when the bus was travelling from Delhi to Jharkhand, SP Saurabh Dixit said.The conductor, Vipin Yadav (50), and helper, Kaushal (35), both from Bihar, had got down to inspect a windowpane after passengers reported hearing a loud noise from it when the truck ran them over, killing them on the spot, he said.Police said the bodies were sent for a post-mortem examination. Body parts of the two victims were scattered up to 20 metres from the accident site.In another accident in Lucknow in the early hours, a 22-year-old man was killed and a 17-year-old injured after their two-wheeler was hit by an unidentified four-wheeler near Dev Hospital under the Manaknagar police station area.The deceased was identified as Deepanshu Rawat, a resident of Chhuara Khera under the Bijnor police station area. The injured teenager, also from the Bijnor area, is undergoing treatment at Lok Bandhu Raj Narayan Combined Hospital.Police said a case was registered against the unidentified four-wheeler driver under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) on the basis of a complaint lodged by the victim's family.In Muzaffarnagar, a 15-year-old boy, Monish, was killed and his friend Nikhil was seriously injured after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation bus near Sanjak village under Shahpur police station area.SHO Gajendra Kumar said the deceased's body had been sent for a post-mortem examination, while the injured youth was shifted to a hospital. The bus driver fled the spot, leaving the vehicle behind, which was subsequently seized by police.On Diwali evening, four more deaths were reported, and two persons were injured in two separate incidents in Kushinagar and Lucknow, officials said.Two youths, including a pedestrian, died on Saturday (November 7, 2026) after a speeding motorcycle hit the pedestrian near Lohjhar crossing around 10.45 p.m. in Kushinagar’s Ahirauli Bazar area. A speeding pickup subsequently ran over the fallen motorcyclist. Police said the pickup driver fled, and SHO Vinay Mishra said efforts were underway to arrest him.In a separate incident in Lucknow’s Dubagga area, an e-rickshaw-car collision around 9 p.m. on Diwali evening killed two passengers and injured one. Police attributed it to the car driver’s alleged rash and negligent driving.