Truck driver burnt alive in fog-hit collision on UP highway

A truck driver was burnt alive after two trucks collided amid dense fog on the Agra–Etawah–Kanpur six-lane highway in Uttar Pradesh on Friday.According to information,the accident took place late Thursday night near the Pakka Bagh overbridge on National Highway-2. According to police, a truck carrying gypsum from Ahlanabad in Haryana to Varanasi rammed into another truck moving ahead after the latter suddenly applied brakes due to poor visibility caused by dense fog.Following the collision, the gypsum-laden truck caught fire, which rapidly spread to the cabin. The driver remained trapped inside and was engulfed by flames, leading to his death on the spot, police said.
Passersby alerted the police and fire brigade, following which three fire tenders were rushed to the scene. Firefighters battled the blaze for nearly an hour before bringing it under control. By that time, the truck’s cabin had been completely gutted.The accident and the firefighting operation disrupted traffic on the busy highway for several hours. After the fire was extinguished, police recovered the charred remains of the driver from the burnt cabin.The deceased was identified as Jaskirat Singh alias Lovely, a resident of Sirsa in Haryana, by the driver of another truck travelling behind, police said.Police said the crash occurred due to sudden braking by the truck ahead in dense fog, giving the following driver little time to react. A crane was later deployed to remove the burnt vehicle from the road, after which traffic was restored.The body has been sent for postmortem examination after completing necessary legal formalities, police added.