How a mother’s urge to see her son ended in tragedy on UP highway
Lakhimpur Kheri accident: The 44-year-old teacher, Gayatri Vaish, was returning to her workplace in Uttar Pradesh’s Bahraich after visiting her family when the van she was in met with a deadly accident.
Gayatri Vaish with her family (Express Photo) Lakhimpur Kheri accident: Every Sunday morning, Gayatri Vaish would travel a hundred kilometres from Bahraich to Sitapur to visit her family.
It was a routine that 44-year-old Vaish, a primary school teacher, had stuck to faithfully for the past decade. She would spend the day with her family before heading back to her rented accommodation and her job.
May 17 was no different. But this time, she was especially eager to return home — her son, who is pursuing a B.Tech degree in Jaipur, was back home for a visit.
For the family, weekends had become precious moments shaped around Gayatri’s brief visits. “We would wait desperately,” said her husband, Ramesh Chandra Gupta, a businessman.
On Monday morning, he said Gayatri left for Bahraich after spending Sunday with them. But about an hour after she left, he got a call.
“It was one of her friends — they said she had been in an accident,” Gupta cried. “We rushed to the spot immediately.”
By the time the family arrived, Vaish was no more. She was among 10 people killed in a devastating road accident on the Bahraich-Lakhimpur National Highway in Kheri district, after the Tata Magic van she was travelling in collided head-on with an incoming truck.
She was among 10 people killed in a devastating road accident on the Bahraich-Lakhimpur National Highway in Kheri district, after the Tata Magic van she was travelling in collided head-on with an incoming truck. (PTI Photo)
The tragedy came just days before the summer break for primary schools was due to begin. Gupta said the holidays had been scheduled from Wednesday (May 20) and he had suggested that she wait and travel later.
“I had asked Gayatri to return on Wednesday since the school holidays were beginning anyway,” Gupta said. “But she was eager to meet our son, Devendra, who had recently come home from Jaipur, where he is pursuing his B.Tech degree.”
Police had said the crash was so severe that nine victims died on the spot, while one succumbed to injuries at the hospital.
“The Tata Magic carrying all 10 victims was on its way to Bahraich when the accident occurred. The truck, which was loaded with grains, was coming from the opposite side. Its driver fled the scene after the crash,” said Nirmal Tiwari, station officer at Isha Nagar Police Station in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Tiwari said the truck driver fled immediately after the collision, and police have launched efforts to trace him. The truck involved in the crash has since been seized.
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