17 killed, 55 injured in six road accidents across U.P. a day after Diwali

At least 17 people were killed and 55 others injured in six separate road accidents across Uttar Pradesh on Monday (November 9, 2026), a day after Diwali celebrations, with several crashes occurring in the early morning hours, officials said.

The deadliest of these accidents occurred in Muzaffarnagar, where six people were burnt alive after their car overturned and caught fire following a collision with a divider and an electric pole. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath also took cognisance of the incident, offering condolences and directing local officials to extend all possible help to the victims' families by establishing dialogue with them.

In Chitrakoot, four people, including two children, were killed and 12 injured after a tractor-trolley overturned, while three people died and 41 others were injured after a bus veered off the Lucknow-Agra Expressway.

Several of these accidents occurred before sunrise, when visibility might have been affected by the onset of the winter season and increased pollution levels in the State. Authorities suspect reduced visibility could have contributed to some of the crashes, although it is yet to be established in these cases so far.

The Muzaffarnagar car accident occurred at around 4.50 a.m. near Jagahedi village under the Titawi police station area on the Panipat-Khatima highway.

The victims were identified as Rahul (22), Ankit (21), Sahil (22), who was driving the car, Ajay (22), another person named Ankit (22) and Aman (19), all residents of Hisar in Haryana, and they were on their way to Haridwar when the accident occurred.

SSP Suraj Kumar Rai said the car was suspected to have been travelling at high speed when the driver lost control.

SP (Rural) Akshay Sanjay said police personnel and fire brigade teams rushed to the spot after receiving information at around 4.50 a.m., adding that occupants were taken to the district hospital, where doctors declared them dead.

In the Chitrakoot tractor-trolley accident that killed four people, including two children, the victims were returning after visiting religious places when the vehicle's coupling mechanism (hook) came off, causing the trolley to lose control and overturn on the roadside, according to District Magistrate Pulkit Garg. The occupants were trapped underneath the overturned trolley.