Vehicle pile-ups leave one dead, many injured as visibility severely hit

The incident began with a Scorpio hitting construction material on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida’s Dankaur area. (Screengrab)

With dense smog engulfing Delhi-NCR region, and visibility dipping to 10 metres, 13 vehicles rammed into each other on Yamuna Expressway on Wednesday morning, police said, adding that six people were injured in the incident. The incident began with a Scorpio hitting construction material on the Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida’s Dankaur area. “This happened near the eastern peripheral flyway, which is under construction. Reflectors had been put up there. However, as the visibility was very low in the morning, the vehicles did not see it and they hit each other one after another. This happened on the Agra-Noida side of the Expressway,” said Farmood Ali Pundir, SHO, Dankaur police station.

Soon after the Scorpio hit the construction material, other vehicles, including an Innova, Hyundai Xcent and Maruti Ertiga, among others, rammed into each other one after the other. “No one was severely injured. Around six people were rushed to a private hospital with minor injuries,” Pundir said.

According to Gautam Buddh Nagar police, two other incidents of vehicles piling up were reported on the Noida-Agra side of the Yamuna Expressway and Jewar on Wednesday morning. “In one incident, eight vehicles rammed into each other, and in the other, six vehicles collided. Around half a dozen people received minor injuries,” he said. Meanwhile, in another pile-up, which took place in Mathura, one person was killed and six others were injured around 6.30 am, police said.

“The incident took place near milestone 125 under the jurisdiction of Baldeo police station. This happened after a truck hit a car, which had broken down. The truck turned turtle and at least 10 cars rammed into one another soon after. The six injured persons were sent to the district hospital. We are still trying to identify the deceased,” a senior police officer said.