A devastating multi-vehicle accident on the Yamuna Expressway near Mathura in the early hours of Tuesday claimed at least 13 lives, leaving several families shattered and searching for loved ones among charred remains.
The crash occurred around 4.25 am at the 127th kilometre of the Agra–Noida stretch of the expressway, where dense fog reduced visibility to less than a metre, police said. The pile-up involved at least eight buses and three smaller vehicles, triggering a massive fire after the collision.
Among the victims was 75-year-old Jai Prakash Verma, a resident of Rawatpur in Kanpur Nagar, who made a heartbreaking final phone call to his daughter moments after the crash. Verma, a painter by profession, was travelling to Delhi in a Shatabdi AC sleeper bus when the accident occurred.
According to reports, Verma called his daughter Manisha from inside the mangled bus, informing her about the accident and pleading for help as he remained trapped. The call disconnected abruptly, after which the family lost contact with him.
Manisha rushed to Mathura after learning about the accident through social media. She checked hospital lists, contacted authorities, and approached district officials, but her father’s name was missing from all records. Later, police informed the family that several passengers had been burnt alive when the bus caught fire. Their remains were recovered in a charred condition and have been sent for DNA identification.
Another tragic account from the crash involved 42-year-old Parvati, who managed to save her two children by pushing them out through a broken window of the bus but could not escape herself. Her relative, Gulzari, said Parvati spoke to him after the accident, saying she had rescued her children before the fire spread.
Relatives of victims spent hours moving between hospitals and mortuaries in Mathura, as authorities conducted post-mortem examinations and worked to identify the deceased. Several bodies were brought in black polybags due to severe burns.
Police said poor visibility caused by dense fog was a key factor behind the accident, and investigations are ongoing to determine further circumstances surrounding the crash.
Originally published on 24×7-news.com.
