24 pilgrims from West Bengal wounded in bus accident near Lucknow

Two dozen people were injured when a private tourist bus carrying over 60 pilgrims from Medinipur, West Bengal fell into a roadside ditch on the Bareilly-Lucknow national highway at Jang Bahadur Ganj (JB Ganj) bypass near Allipur village on Saturday morning, police said.

Ten of the wounded were transported to the neighbouring Shahjahanpur district for treatment, JB Ganj police outpost in-charge Hemant Katiyar told PTI.

All injured were reported to be out of danger barring a woman identified as Madhumita, who got a head injury, Katiyar said.

The bus driver and his helper fled after the accident.

Pilgrims said they had boarded the bus on August 25 and after visiting Gaya, Bodhgaya, Prayagraj, Chitrakoot, Vrindavan and Haridwar, were on their way to Ayodhya and Varanasi.

In another incident nearby, two brothers were killed and a third got injured after the motorcycle they were travelling on was hit by a bus in the Mirzapur Police Station area of the district.

"One Musharraf (30) and his brothers Mashroor (25) were travelling on a motorcycle with one Buddu (55). Their motorcycle was hit by a bus near Gaushera Village Friday night," Superintendent of Police (Rural) Sagar Jain said.

While Musharraf and Mashroor were killed on the spot, Buddu was taken to a hospital for treatment, Jain said.

The bus driver decamped with his bus after the incident. Police are trying to track him.