Ferozepur, Jun 6: Nine people, including four women and a minor girl, were killed and 18 others injured when a pick-up vehicle they were travelling in collided with a truck near Janga Wala Mour on the Ferozepur-Fazilka road on Saturday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 for injured.
“Deeply pained to hear about a mishap in Ferozepur district, Punjab. My condolences to those who have lost their loved ones. Wishing a speedy recovery to the injured,” Modi said in a post on X.
As many as 32 persons, including women and children, were going from Jalalabad to Beas in Amritsar to immerse the ashes of a relative in the Beas river, when their vehicle met with an accident.
Many of them died on the spot, and the severely injured were brought to the Civil Hospital in Ferozepur.
Dr Nikhil Gupta, senior medical officer, said that those who were in critical condition have been referred to Guru Gobind Singh Government Medical College in Faridkot.
Ferozepur SSP Bhupinder Singh, along with other senior officials, reached the spot after the incident.
The SSP said police were investigating to ascertain the exact cause of the accident.
Anshpreet Singh (12), who survived the accident with minor injuries, said he was going with his family members to immerse the remains of his grandmother, Pooro Bai (62).
“We started our journey early at 3.30 am. Everything was normal, and we even stopped for fuel. As soon as we reached near the Janga Wala Mour, the accident happened,” Anshpreet said.
The deceased have been identified as Karnail Singh (50), Mahinder Singh (55), Raj Kumar (45), Bhupo Bai (50), Maya Bai (70), Jeeto Bai (55), Sukhwinder Kaur (12) — all residents of Jalalabad area in Fazilka district — along with Darshan Singh and Vidya Bai (65), both residents of Kamale Wala village in Ferozepur district.
Political leaders, including Guruharsahai MLA Fauja Singh Sarari and former MLAs Raminder Singh Awla and Parminder Singh Pinki, visited the hospital and met the injured persons, as well as grieving family members.
Awla alleged that both the state and central governments were responsible for the deaths as accidents were “regularly” taking place on the Ferozepur-Fazilka road stretch.
“Due to delay in the four-laning projects, hundreds of innocent lives have been lost due to a series of accidents that have taken place on this road for the last few years,” he said.(PTI)
