Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday condoled the death of 18 people who lost their lives in a road accident in Unnao, Uttar Pradesh.

In a message on the social media platform X, the Congress leader said, “The news of the death of a large number of people in the horrific road accident in Unnao, UP is extremely sad. May God grant peace to the departed souls. My deepest condolences to the bereaved families. I pray for the speedy recovery of the injured.”

The incident occurred at 5:15 a.m. on Wednesday when a double-decker sleeper bus travelling from Motihari, Bihar, to Delhi hit a milk tanker from behind on the Agra-Lucknow Expressway near Gadha village in the Behtamujawar Police Station area.
While 18 people were killed in the incident, 19 were injured. Six of the injured were referred to Lucknow, while the rest were taken to the District Hospital in Unnao for better treatment, according to officials. Twenty people managed to escape unhurt.
Meanwhile, Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav criticized the BJP government in the state after the tragic accident on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway. In a post on X, Yadav alleged that the accident resulted from the negligence of the BJP government.

He wrote, “The reason for the death of 18 people in the accident on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway is the negligence of the BJP government. It is the subject of an investigation that, despite the provision of special parking zones on the expressway, how were vehicles parked on the road? How did the monitoring of the parked vehicle fail despite CCTVs being installed? Are the CCTVs not working?”

Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the deceased, while Rs 50,000 will be given to the injured. (ANI)