Uttar pradesh: On Saturday early morning, 24 migrant labourers were killed and dozens were injured in an accident while travelling back to their homes. The accident took place in Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh when the truck they were travelling in collided with another vehicle. Around 50 migrant labourers were coming from Rajasthan in a trailer truck which collided with a van coming from Delhi in Mihauli area of the district.
The District Magistrate of Auraiya, Mr. Abhishek Singh said in his statement, “The incident took place at around 3:30 am. Most of them are from Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.”
The Chief Medical Officer of Auraiya, Archana Srivastava informed about their present medical situation stating, “24 people were brought dead, 22 have been admitted and 15 who were critically injured have been referred to Saifai PGI.”
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister of UP Yogi Adityanath expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the labourers who lost their lives.
The CM has also directed the authorities to provide the injured with necessary medical care immediately. The Commissioner and Inspector General of Police (Kanpur) have been ordered to visit the site and give a report on the cause of the accident immediately.
Since the nationwide lockdown began, thousands of people have been walking back home from big cities after being left without any work and source of income to survive.
With extension of lockdown, the tally of migrants returning back has kept rising and the number of their deaths reported, too have shot up.
Earlier this week, 15 migrant workers were killed in three accidents, one each in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar. On 8th May, 17 workers were run over by a goods train in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad district. On May 9, five more workers were killed in Narsinghpur district of MP when the truck in which they were travelling hit the central verge of the road.
According to the Police records, nearly 100 have been seriously injured in road accidents across states on Thursday, as migrant workers continue to seek rides on trucks, cycle, or just walk on the country’s highways in a struggle to return home.
The Centre has started special trains for migrant workers from May 1 but the number of trains doesn’t seem fulfilling the requirements due to the huge numbers and the process of documentation involved in registration.