At least 14 people died after a vehicle collided with a truck on the Prayagraj-Lucknow highway in Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh district late on Thursday, 19 November, news agency ANI reported.
The deceased included six children.
Expressing grief over the incident, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed senior officials to reach the spot and provide assistance to the victims, his office said.
A compensation of Rs 2 lakh has been announced to the next of the kin, The Indian Express reported.
The police that reached the spot had to use gas cutters to retrieve the bodies from the vehicle that had turned into a mangled heap of iron. It took more than three hours to get the bodies out, news agency IANS reported.
Additional Superintendent of Police Anurag Arya who reached the site of the accident said that all 14 bodies had been sent for post-mortem. The incident took place near Deshraj Inara village when the deceased were returning from a wedding, in Nawabganj area.
Sources said that the driver of the SUV probably fell asleep which led to the accident, reported IANS.
(With inputs from IANS, ANI and NDTV.)
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