9 killed in UP road accident

Lucknow: Nine persons were killed on Saturday in Uttar Pradesh when their vehicle travelling at high speed rammed into a truck parked on the roadside in Lakhimpur Kheri, police said.

Nine of the 17 people in the mini van were killed instantaneously. The injured were rushed to a hospital, where the condition of three is said to be critical.

The accident on national highway-24 apparently took place as the driver had dozed off at the wheel around 6 a.m., a police officer said.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has condoled the loss of lives. He ordered the district administration to ensure proper treatment to the injured, a government spokesman told IANS.