Lucknow, Dec 7: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed immediate financial assistance of Rs two lakh each to the families of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to those who sustained serious injuries in the Kannauj accident, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

This comes after eight people lost their lives and at least 19 others were left injured after a double-decker bus collided with a water tanker on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway on Friday. 

According to the police, the bus was travelling on the way to Delhi from Lucknow when the accident occurred.

Earlier, Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed his condolences over the death of commuters in the bus accident in Uttar Pradesh's Kannauj. 

The Prime Minister also announced an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured.

In a post on X, the Prime Minister's Office said, "Saddened by the loss of lives in the bus accident in Kannauj, Uttar Pradesh. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon. The local administration is assisting those affected."

"An ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from PMNRF would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given Rs50,000: PM @narendramodi."

Providing details of the incident, Superintendent of Police (SP) Amit Kumar said, "Today, a bus and a water tanker collided on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway. The bus was travelling from Lucknow to Delhi. Police reached the spot as soon as we received the information. Eight people have died in the incident, and 19 injured individuals are undergoing treatment."

Kannauj District Magistrate Shubhrant Kumar Shukla, SP Amit Kumar, and Tirwa MLA Kailash Rajput are at the scene, overseeing rescue operations. All the injured have been admitted to Saifai Medical College.

This was the second major road accident in Uttar Pradesh within five hours. 

Earlier on Friday, six people were killed, and five others injured in a road accident in Chitrakoot, police said. In this accident, an SUV collided head-on with a truck on the Jhansi-Mirzapur highway in the Raipura police station area at around 5:30 a.m.

In Pilibhit, six people were killed when a car carrying a wedding party crashed into a tree and plunged into a ditch around Friday midnight.

In the Pilbhit accident, a car with 11 people on board collided with a tree before falling into a ditch on the Pilibhit-Tanakpur road in the Neora police station area.

The driver of the car lost control while trying to overtake another vehicle.

The victims, all from Uttarakhand's Khatima district, were returning from a wedding in Chandoi village when the tragedy struck.

The deceased have been identified as Munni (65), Manzoor Ahmed (60), Bahiuddin (55), Sharif Ahmed (60), Sahe Alam (35), and Rakim (11).

Three of the injured were referred to a higher medical facility, while the others received initial treatment at the local hospital.

--IANS

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