Six migrant workers were run over by a UP government bus in Muzaffarnagar district
Highlights
- Workers walking to their hometown in Bihar from Punjab
- Accident happened at 11 pm on Wednesday
- "Bus was empty and the driver is on the run": Police
Six migrant workers were run over by an Uttar Pradesh government bus on a highway in the state's Muzaffarnagar district, the police said this morning. Two workers were injured.
The workers had been walking to their hometowns in Bihar from Punjab amid the coronavirus lockdown. Four of the dead are from Gopalgunj, one from Patna and one from Bhojpur.
The police said the bus was empty and the driver has been arrested.
"They were walking. Saab, four-five have died," an eyewitness is heard telling policemen in a mobile video. "Two-three are alive," he said.
In visuals, bodies are seen lying on the road in the dark. A man is seen rubbing the face of an injured migrant to bring him out of a state of shock.
The accident happened at 11 pm on Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the UP government in a statement had directed officers to ensure that no migrant workers walk on the road "at any cost".
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked a top government officer to investigate the accident. The families of those who died will get Rs 2 lakh compensation and those who were injured will get Rs 50,000, the state government said.
"Deep grief over the painful death of migrant workers in the Muzaffarnagar bus accident in Uttar Pradesh. First train and now bus accident, why the lives of workers are so cheap? Can not the poor of the country come via Vande Bharat Mission? It is not right to fly so high that the truth on the ground is ignored," former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav tweeted.
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.