Prime minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed his grief over two tragedies today that claimed the lives of 14 people. One was a road accident on the Yamuna Expressway near Mathura in Uttar Pradesh and the other was a building fire in Madhya Pradesh’s Indore. The PM offered his condolences to the families of the deceased and wished the injured a quick recovery.
“The road accident in Mathura, Uttar Pradesh is heart-wrenching. My deepest condolences to those who have lost their loved ones in this accident. With this I wish the injured a speedy recovery,” the prime minister’s office tweeted.
UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath also expressed grief over the road accident and said his government would provide adequate treatment to those injured.
On the fire in Indore in Madhya Pradesh, the prime minister’s office said: “The fire incident in Indore, Madhya Pradesh is very sad. I express my deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in this tragedy. Along with this, I wish a speedy recovery to all the injured.”
Seven people died and two were injured in the accident on the Yamuna Expressway, which took place this morning.
Police said the deceased were returning to Noida from Hardoi after attending a marriage function when their car collided with another vehicle at 5 am.
“Among the seven killed, three were women and three were men. One child also died. Another child and a man are hospitalised,” Mathura’s Superintendent of Police told news agency.
In Indore, a major fire broke out at a two-story residential building in the city’s Vijay Nagar locality. Seven people were killed while nine suffered injuries. Some people even jumped from the building, which has 10 flats, to save their lives.
“The fire broke out in the wee hours of Saturday in a building in Swarn Baag colony. Some were burnt alive and some suffocated as it was a congested building. The reason for death will be clear after post-mortem,” police commissioner HN Mishra said.
The state has announced ex-gratia of ₹4 lakh for the kin of the deceased.
Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan lamented the ‘sad news of the untimely demise of many precious lives’.
“I pray to God to give place to the departed souls at His feet and give strength to the family members to bear this deep sorrow and give speedy recovery to the injured,” he said, adding ‘strict action’ would be taken against those responsible.
In the initial investigation, a short circuit is said to be the cause of the fire.