Madhubani: Dense fog and poor visibility on Sunday led to several road accidents, resulting in two fatalities and leaving several others injured.
In an incident, two people lost their lives, and eight others were injured when a bus and an autorickshaw collided head-on near the culvert on the Border Road between Madhawapur and Bihari villages, under Madhwapur block in the Benipatti subdivision of the district.
Ainul Ansari (60) of Bihari village died on the spot, while Ram Prakash Sah (60), also from the same village, succumbed to his injuries during treatment at a private nursing home in Madhubani. The injured include Vijay Mukhia, Bam Bam Jha, Momin Khatun, Amrita Devi, and two children—Radha Kumari and Aryan Kumar. The conditions of Bam Bam Jha and Vijay Mukhia are reported to be critical.
According to eyewitnesses, a Patna-bound bus that departed from Madhwapur bus stand at 7 am collided with the autorickshaw coming from Bihari village due to poor visibility near the culvert. The bus driver fled from the place after the accident.
Following the incident, villagers blocked the main road for about four hours, demanding ex gratia compensation. The blockade was lifted after the intervention of police and block officials.
In another incident on Sunday, on NH-27 in the Bhairavsthan police station area of Jhanjharpur block, a truck container was hit by another truck coming from Phulparas. This caused a traffic jam, during which a car stopped behind the truck was rear-ended by another car. Five passengers, including the car driver, sustained minor injuries. Soon after, four additional cars moving in the same direction collided. However, there were no casualties.
It took police more than four hours to resume vehicular traffic on the busy national highway.