Agra: A man was killed, but a woman had a miraculous escape in Uttar Pradesh's Agra when a truck fell after the road under it caved in this morning. Heavy rain in the city over the last week has led to the road cave-in, officials say.
The woman who was riding a scooty managed to escape when the truck fell sideways after the road it was parked on gave away. Her scooty was crushed.
"The truck was loaded and the road caved in because of the rain. It was parked there and suddenly it started tilting towards me. I got off my scooty and ran. Two school vans had just crossed the spot. It could have been a bigger tragedy," said Ritika, a schoolteacher who was on her way to school.
However, another person wasn't so luck. He came under the truck and died. In a horrifying video shot by locals, his arm and a leg can be seen crushed under weight of the truck.
Four friends in an SUV had a miraculous escape after their car fell into a 20-feet deep ditch off the expressway between Agra and Lucknow on Wednesday. The men were on a road trip from Mumbai to their home in Kannauj district. A part of the service road along the Agra-Lucknow Expressway caved in after heavy rain, leading to the creation of a ditch. The accident took place in Dauki, about 16 km from Agra.
At least 148 people have died in the July across Uttar Pradesh in rain-related incidents. According to the Uttar Pradesh government, most deaths happened after roofs or walls of their homes collapses due to heavy rain.
Many rivers in the state are either just above or flowing close to the danger mark. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked all district officials to make a list of unsafe buildings and get them evacuated as soon as possible.
Shrikant Sharma, minister and UP government spokesperson, said, "We are responsible for all the construction that happened during our tenure and we are trying our best to ensure such incidents do not happen. Whatever infrastructure we are developing, we are trying to ensure it stays for a long time. But one can't ignore the widespread corruption in the previous government that affected the infrastructure."