Weekend Agra Trip Turns Tragic, 2 Amity Students Killed In Yamuna Expressway Crash

It was a weekend getaway plan that went horribly wrong for group of students studying at Noida’s Amity University. Two were killed and three suffered grievous injuries after their car met with an accident at Yamuna Expressway’s Zero Point on Friday. Shaurya Gupta, a resident of east Delhi’s Laxmi Nagar, had booked a car via an app for a short trip to Agra. The student of Noida’s Amity University, Gupta was accompanied by his friends Aditi Saxsena, Shivani Yadav, Shine Sharma and Owais Chaudhary. Yadav and Chaudhary died in the crash while other three are receiving treatment at an hospital.

While Aditi Saxena has told police that the students were on their way to Agra when the crash took place, the cops think otherwise. The cops say that initial probe revealed overspeeding to be the main reason behind the crash. The police said that the car lost its balance due to high speed. It rolled over three times and crashed into a state-run roadway bus on the other side of the Expressway. The impact of the crash was so severe that the car was totally unrecognisable. The survivors of the crash were taken out after the rescuers cut the mangled remains of the vehicle.

Last month, 9 people lost their lives due to similar crashes on the Expressway. The initial probe says that Gupta and Saxsena were saved due to airbags in the car. 10 passengers travelling in the bus also suffered injuries.

Yamuna Expressway has turned into a death trap. A July report said that at least 77 people were killed this year in accidents on the 165-km expressway, according to RTI data accessed by NGO SaveLIFE Foundation. The NGO said 703 lives were lost in 4,880 accidents between August 2012, when the expressway was opened for commercial operations, and January last year.

Built at a cost of Rs 12,839 crore, the expressway in western Uttar Pradesh is managed by Yamuna Expressway Industrial Development Authority (YEIDA). However, the six-lane high-speed corridor has been severely criticised for its poor safety parameters and also because of the high number of accidents and deaths.

Another set of data accessed by Agra-based activist and lawyer Krishna Chand Jain from YEIDA via RTI had information until March last year. It showed 4,956 accidents were reported on the expressway since its inception until March last year, in which 718 people died and 7,671 were injured.

The RTI response Jain received detailed that 1,161 (almost 24 per cent) of the accidents were caused due to over-speeding, while 595 (12 per cent) were due to bursting of tyres and 235 (4.74 per cent) due to fog.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Probe revealed overspeeding to be the main reason behind crash.
• Car rolled over 3 times and crashed into a bus on the other side.
• Survivors were taken out after rescuers cut mangled remains of car.