In twist of fate, man loses son & a boy loses father; 10 others also die in accident

BAREILLY: Twelve pilgrims, including three children, were killed in Shahjahanpur when a gravel-laden dumper truck crashed and overturned on a parked bus carrying about 50 people on their way to Purnagiri temple in Uttarakhand on Saturday night.
The incident saw a couple of deaths which can best be described as tragic twists of fate. A 10-year-old boy who was sent to fetch a bottle of water by his father moments before the accident, survived while his dad, still in the bus, was killed.
Another passenger and his wife, having dinner at the restaurant where the bus had stopped, asked their son to keep a bag inside the bus. As the 15-year-old was doing so, the dumper truck came hurtling onto the bus. The teenager died while his parents survived.
Speeding dumper struck bus parked next to eatery
Yashraj, 10, travelling with his father Pramod Kumar, 30, who passed away in the accident, recounted to TOI the sequence of events.
“Our bus had halted at an eatery and my father and I had dinner together. We then moved towards the bus but my father realised we needed a bottle of drinking water for the journey. So, he asked me to get one. Minutes later, a speeding truck came and crashed into the bus. All the passengers, including my father, were buried under the truck loaded with stones,” said the boy, who still hasn’t been able to come to terms with the fact that his father is no more.
Similarly, Rupesh Kumar was inconsolable after the accident. “I was having dinner with my wife and two children. We sent our son Ajeet, 15, to the bus to keep a bag. Ajeet was about to enter the bus when it was hit by the truck. Who could tell that we’ll lose him like this... I can’t believe that this has happened,” Kumar said, tears flowing down his face.
Another passenger, Raj Karan, 19, too, lost his mother, Sonwati Devi, 45 in a somewhat similar manner. Karan was at the eatery finishing his meal while his mother had gone inside the bus to sleep. She was killed instantly when the dumper collided with the bus.
Providing details about the casualties, SSP Ashok Kumar Meena said, “Eleven pilgrims were killed on the spot and one died at Shahjahanpur hospital. Nine people were injured. The bus was parked next to a roadside eatery on the Gola state highway in Khuthar where passengers were having dinner. Around 11.10pm, a speeding dumper from the opposite direction first hit the bus and then overturned. Cranes were used in the rescue operation which lasted for nearly five hours.”
SSP Ashok Kumar Meena further said: “An FIR has been registered against the truck driver under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide) and 269 (rash driving). He is absconding.”