9 killed in road accidents, 2 drown in UP on Holi

Lucknow: Nine people were killed in road accidents and two boys drowned in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, police said.

In Muzaffarnagar, two men were burned to death and another was seriously injured when their car caught fire after it hit a tree. Circle Officer Devvrat Bajpai identified the dead as Mainpal, 35, and Raju, 30. The injured passenger was rushed to a hospital.

In Bhadohi, two cousins died when their motorcycle crashed into a tree after they left their in-laws' place following Holi celebrations. Omprakash (32) and his cousin Mahendra (26) were returning to the Gopalpur village from the Ithara village when the accident occurred near the Manipur village.

Police said the victims, allegedly intoxicated, lost control of their speeding motorcycle.

Two cousins died and another was critically injured when their motorcycle collided with a truck en route to a Holi Milan event near Sukrit police post in Sonbhadra. Sandeep Chauhan (20) and Vicky Chauhan (21), residents of Lohara, died at the scene. The third rider was sent to a Varanasi trauma centre.

Police said the truck was seized and the driver arrested.

In Barabanki, two teenagers drowned in the Ghaghra river when they got into it for a swim after celebrating Holi in the the Tikait Nagar area. Circle Officer Ratnesh Pandey stated that Ravi Verma, 15, and Rishabh, 16, drowned near the Mau Ghat around 2 pm.

A diver fished them out and, with the help of others, rushed them to a Community Health Centre, where they were declared dead.

In Maharajganj, two friends, Vivek and Tinku Jaiswal, both 21, died when their motorcycle hit an electric pole on the Piperdewra-Maharajganj road.

In Sultanpur, a collision occurred between two motorcycles on the road leading to Haliyapur. Station House Officer Dheeraj Kumar said the accident took place around 1 pm. Four men, allegedly intoxicated and smeared in gulaal, were riding those motorcycles, police said.

Suresh Kumar Raidas, 43, who was visiting his village from Chandigarh, sustained critical injuries and later died during treatment at the Government Medical College.