At least 23 migrant laborers were killed and dozens were injured after the truck they were traveling in collided with another in Auraiya of Uttar Pradesh early on Saturday, ANI reported.
“The incident took place at around 3:30 am. Twenty-three people have died and around 15-20 have suffered injuries. Most of them are from Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal,” Abhishek Singh, Auraiya’s district magistrate told the news agency.
They were traveling from Rajasthan.
The injured have been shifted to a nearby hospital.
UP Additional Chief Secretary for Home, Awanish Awasthi, said Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has taken note of the unfortunate accident in Auraiya.
“He (Adityanath) has expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the laborers who lost their lives,” Awasthi said.
Amid the coronavirus controlled lockdown, hundreds of thousands of migrants who have no job security or protection were forced to trek hundreds of miles back to their villages-with some dying on the journey.
Last week, sixteen migrant workers in a group of 20 were killed after a cargo train ran over them while they were sleeping on the tracks in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad.
