At least 14 people died while 24 were injured when the mini-truck they were travelling in fell into a canal in the Etah district of Uttar Pradesh in the early hours of Friday, May 5. All the people on the mini-truck were said to be part of a wedding party that was returning home from after the marriage ceremony.
The deceased were residents of Shamsabad and had gone to Sakrauli to attend a wedding of their kin. They were returning home when the mini-truck they were in turned turtle and fell into a canal near the Saraineem village under the Jalesar Police Station's jurisdiction in the Etah district.
Some of the deceased have been identified as Padma Singh, Mukesh, Prashant, Luv Kumar, Girand Singh, Omveer, Shaitan Singh, Kalicharan, Jaiprakash, Jai Singh and Pravendra Singh. The three others are yet to be identified.
Local residents alerted the authorities who rushed to the spot. They retrieved the bodies and rescued the injured. Some of those injured were taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, while those who had sustained serious injuries were rushed to Jalesar. The police have registered a case in this regard and are probing the matter.
Preliminary investigation has shown that the driver of the mini-truck — locally referred to as a canter — lost control of the vehicle in the dark, and it breached safety railings before ending up in the canal. Whether this was the driver's fault, the result of a mechanical glitch, or even the fault of another vehicle is yet to be determined.
Anger against police
Local reports said the police and District Magistrate Amit Kishor faced protests from the locals who said the cops were derelict in their duties. They said the police reached the spot two hours after they were called. By that time, the local authorities and residents had done most of the rescue work.
What's more, after the cops arrived, they simply kept giving directions to the locals instead of lending a helping hand. Possibly the worst of the accusations against them was that some of the policemen were seen taking selfies with the ill-fated vehicle.
