3 killed after truck overturns on shelter near under-construction bridge in UP

Three labourers were killed and two others injured after a gravel-laden truck overturned onto a temporary tin shelter near an under-construction bridge in Uttar Pradesh’s Saharanpur district in the early hours of Friday, police said. Truck overturns on sleeping workers at bridge site in UP’s Saharanpur, killing three and injuring two; police suspect overspeeding. (iStock image/ Representative photo)

Saharanpur’s Deoband Circle Officer (CO) Abhitesh Singh said that the accident took place around 3 am in the Nagal police station area on the Saharanpur–Jhabreda route, where bridge construction work is currently underway.

Singh said that five labourers — Asgar, Istkar, Shaukeen, Gulfam, and Karmveer — all residents of Mahmoodpur village, were working at the bridge construction site and had put up a temporary tin shelter by the roadside for the night.

The truck carrying gravel was heading towards Kheda Mughal village when the driver allegedly lost control, overturning the vehicle onto the shelter under which the labourers were asleep, he added.

Other workers nearby began rescue efforts and informed the police.

“After nearly two hours of strenuous efforts, all five workers were pulled out from beneath the overturned truck and the mound of gravel and taken to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared Asgar, Istkar, and Shaukeen dead on arrival. Gulfam and Karmveer are undergoing treatment,” Singh said.

Singh added that the three bodies were sent for postmortem, and further investigation is underway to ascertain the cause of the accident, including driver negligence and overspeeding.