Truck mows down 4 of a family sleeping outside house in Barabanki

Lucknow: Four members of a family, including three children, were killed and a woman critically injured after a speeding dumper truck ran over them while they were sleeping outside their home in Barabanki on early Saturday.

The accident occurred in Jhansa village of Fatehpur Kotwali area.

Police said the family was sleeping on the roadside due to a power outage. The speeding truck rammed into a tree and then crushed the family.

Chief minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the loss of lives.

Neeraj, 35, and his son Anurag, 13, died on the spot, while Neeraj’s wife Aarti, 32, and Anshika, 10, and Anshu, 6, were rushed to a hospital in critical condition. Doctors later declared Anshika and Anshu dead. Aarti, who sustained severe injuries, was referred to Dr Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital in Lucknow for advanced treatment, where she remains admitted in critical condition.

ASP (North) Vikas Chandra Tripathi said the truck was seized and its driver taken into custody.

In another accident in Barabanki, a speeding car crashed into a tree on Friday night. Car driver Sukhvinder Singh, 50, died on the spot while two others — Shashank Singh, 35, and Dharmendra, 50 — sustained serious injuries and were admitted to a hospital.