5 killed, at least 14 injured as double-decker bus overturns in Lucknow

Five people were killed and at least 14 injured when a double-decker bus overturned near the toll on the Purvanchal Expressway here on Monday evening after the driver lost control of the vehicle, police said. According to officials, 80-85 passengers were onboard the bus, which was going from Ludhiana in Punjab to Motihari in Bihar, when the accident took place. Deputy Commissioner of Police (South), Lucknow, Nipun Agarwal, said after the information about the accident was received at Gosainganj police station, police and administration officials and ambulances reached the spot. ''In this accident, five people -- one man, one woman and three children -- died. Police have sent the injured persons to trauma centres at SGPGI (Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences) and KGMU (King George's Medical University), where their condition is said to be stable,'' Agarwal said. A case has been registered in this connection, he said. Additional DCP (South) Rallapalli Vasanth Kumar told PTI that the 14 injured passengers have been referred to higher medical centres for treatment. The accident occurred at the 11.2-km mark of the expressway. After the accident, a crane was called in to lift the overturned bus and clear the expressway. An injured passenger told PTI Videos that the bus driver was allegedly drunk and speeding. ''Today I left Panipat for Nepal. The driver was driving at a very high speed. He could not control the bus, causing it to overturn,'' the passenger said.