Most of the labourers are from Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh, police said.
Highlights
- 70 workers were travelling from Maharashtra to Uttar Pradesh
- Most of them are reported to be from Unnao
- "We are making efforts to send them to Unnao": Police
Eight labourers died and over 54 suffered injuries after the truck they were travelling in was hit by a speeding bus in Madhya Pradesh's Guna earlier this morning. The incident was reported hours after six migrant workers were run over by a bus on a highway in Uttar Pradesh.
In the fatal incident in Madhya Pradesh, the truck travelling from Maharashtra to Uttar Pradesh with around 70 labourers was hit by a speeding bus on a bypass road in Guna, leaving eight dead. Around 55-60 labourers also suffered injuries in the incident which took place around 3 am, police said. Most of the labourers are from Unnao district in Uttar Pradesh, they added.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan expressed condolences over deaths of migrant workers. "Received the tragic news of accident involving migrant labourers travelling from Maharashtra to Uttar Pradesh. I pray to god to give their loved ones strength to overcome this," tweeted Mr Chouhan in Hindi.
The chief minister said that the state is providing best possible medical treatment to those injured.
The bus was travelling from Guna to Ahmedabad, the police said, adding that only a driver and a cleaner were travelling in it.
"We were asleep when the incident took place. There were around 55-60 people in the truck. The incident took place around 3 am," said a labourer who was travelling in the truck.
"The incident took place in Guna bypass road. The labourers were travelling from Mumbai to their hometown in Unnao in Uttar Pradesh. A bus was travelling from Guna to Ahmedabad. Three people have minor injuries. We are making efforts to send them to Unnao," said a police official.
In the other tragic incident from Uttar Pradesh, six migrant workers were run over by a state government bus on a highway in the Muzaffarnagar district on Wednesday night. The workers had been walking to their hometown in Bihar from Punjab amid the coronavirus lockdown, police said
The bus was empty and the driver has been arrested, they added.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered a top state government official to carry out an enquiry about the circumstances leading to the accident. He has also announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the family of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured.
Accidents involving migrant workers who are walking home have been reported from across the country in recent days. Last week, 16 migrant workers in a group of 20 were killed after a cargo train ran over them while they were sleeping on the tracks in Maharashtra's Aurangabad.