7 killed, 40 injured in bus-truck collision in Ayodhya

Rescue operation is in full swing, and more than a dozen ambulances have been deployed, officials said

Seven passengers were killed and more than 40 injured as a bus toppled sideways after colliding with a truck and came under the loaded goods carrier on the Lucknow-Gorakhpur Highway, officials said.

The accident took place late in the evening when the private bus coming from Ayodhya was negotiating a turn on the highway to move towards Ambedkarnagar, they said.

The bus collided with the truck coming from the opposite side, the officials said, adding the impact was so intense that the truck got overturned and the bus got buried under it.

Ayodhya Chief Medical Officer Dr Ajay Raja said, "So far, seven persons have died and more than 40 persons are injured in the road accident."

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He added that rescue operations are still going on.

The district administration launched a rescue operation soon after the accident.

"More than a dozen ambulances have been deployed. We are evacuating those who are stuck in the crashed vehicle. The injured are being taken to the district hospital and medical college," District Magistrate Nitish Kumar told PTI.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the loss of lives in the accident, his office said in a tweet in Hindi.

The chief minister also directed the district administration to take the injured to the hospital immediately and provide them with proper treatment.