20 bodies found, a mother still missing: Search for UP woman two weeks after Yamuna Expressway pile-up

Suddenly, the bus barreled into another vehicle, throwing passengers against the seats. “We were asleep when a loud crash jolted the bus, waking everyone up,” Prachi told The Indian Express. She looked for her mother and saw her bleeding. “Mummy had a serious neck injury. We tried to lift her, but she slipped inside the bus.”

The two children escaped through a broken window. They screamed for help, but bystanders, overwhelmed by the chaos, could not assist. Minutes later, an explosion engulfed the bus in flames.

The accident was part of a deadly, fog-induced 18-vehicle pile-up on the Yamuna Expressway that left 20 people dead, many charred beyond recognition. But Parvati Devi’s body was never found. Officials confirmed that all recovered victims had been identified — and she was not among them.

Twenty people were killed in the 18-vehicle pile-up on the Yamuna Expressway. (PTI)

Search for answers

For the past two weeks, Devi’s husband, Govind Kumar, and elder son, Aakash (22), have been criss-crossing police stations and administrative offices in Mathura, trying to prove she was on the bus. Kumar (52) is a labourer from Nauranga in Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur. 

Aakash said his sister was pleading with several people to help rescue their mother when the bus suddenly caught fire following an explosion. “Do haftey key baad bhi hum log latkey huey hai… Gaon waley baatey bana rahey hai. Yeh sab se bachney key liye, sab log Noida mai mere pass reh rahey hai. (It’s been two weeks and we have been left hanging… People in the village are spreading rumors. To avoid any kind of public humiliation, my entire family has left the village and is now staying with me in Noida),” he added.

He said police told the family that the matter is under investigation but have shared no concrete updates. “They called us four times and collected blood samples, hair strands, and nail clippings from Prachi and me for DNA testing. We don’t know the results of these tests,” he claimed.

Aakash said two days ago, a sub-inspector visited his village and recorded statements of local residents. “The officer also met my cousin, Jaipal, who had accompanied my mother and siblings to help them board the bus. He even recorded the statement of the rickshaw puller who dropped them…,” he said.

A firefighter douses a charred bus after a fog-hit pile-up involving buses and cars sparked fires on the Yamuna Expressway. PTI

Additional Superintendent of Police, Mathura (Rural), Suresh Chandra Rawat, said police have initiated an inquiry. “We are trying to ascertain whether she [Devi] was in the vehicle at the time the accident occurred. We are also examining CCTV footage.”

He said police are analysing call detail records and recording statements of passengers who were travelling on the bus and managed to escape. Rawat added that when the police reached the accident site, no one informed them that a woman had managed to get her children out but remained trapped inside the bus.

Mathura District Magistrate, Chandra Prakash Singh, said 20 people had lost their lives in the incident. He added that all the bodies recovered from the accident site have been identified, and in 15 cases, the identities were confirmed through DNA testing.

DM Singh further said one claimant is yet to take custody of the body that has been identified. He also said two families have approached the administration claiming their family members had died in the accident, but their bodies have not been traced so far. “We are examining their claims and conducting an inquiry into these allegations,” Singh said.

No closure

For the family, there is no closure.

Prachi said, “Since the incident, police have questioned me three times… I even submitted the slip from the hospital where I received treatment for the injuries sustained in the accident.”

Aakash said the administration’s decision to conduct an inquiry into his statement made him feel as if officials suspected them of making a false claim just to seek compensation. The government had announced a compensation of Rs 3 lakh for the next of kin of each deceased person.

“Adhikar jo aspatal aaye they boley they 72 ghantey mai sabki pahchaan ho jayegi. Aur ab do hafta ho gaya mera kuch nahi hua (A day after the accident, senior officials from the district administration and police had assured the families that the identities of missing persons would be established within 72 hours. Two weeks have now passed and there is still no resolution),” added Aakash.