Four people, including the only son, elder brother and a nephew of Subedar Major Satyawan Singh, were killed on Sunday morning when the ambulance carrying his mortal remains from Panchkula to Deoria rammed a stationary truck on the Purvanchal Expressway in Sultanpur district.
The accident occurred at about 8.15 am near Haliyapur, on the Ayodhya–Sultanpur border, around kilometre marker 79.6. Police said the ambulance went out of control and struck a truck parked on the roadside. The impact mangled the front of the ambulance.
Those killed were identified as Gaurav Singh, 18, the Subedar Major’s only son; Ram Samujh, his elder brother; Rajan, a relative described as his nephew; and the ambulance driver, Jaspal. Gaurav Singh and Jaspal, who were in the front seats, died at the spot. The driver’s body was trapped in the wreckage and had to be extricated with a gas cutter. Ram Samujh and Rajan were taken to a government hospital in Ayodhya and died during treatment. Some agency reports give different ages and reverse the relationship between Ram Samujh and Rajan; local reports, including The Times of India and Navbharat Times, identify Ram Samujh as the elder brother and Rajan as the nephew, and place Gaurav Singh’s age at 18.
Subedar Major Satyawan Singh was a resident of Galiya Dudhaila village in the Rudrapur area of Deoria district. He was serving in the Army and had been posted at Meerut. He had been under treatment at the Command Hospital, Chandigarh, after a kidney transplant, and died in Panchkula three days before the accident. He was not reported to have died in an operational incident.
After his death, his brother, nephew and son travelled to Panchkula to bring the body home. They left at about 4 pm on Saturday in the ambulance. Other family members followed in a separate vehicle. A preliminary inquiry suggests the driver may have fallen asleep, and witnesses told police the ambulance appeared to be travelling at high speed before it lost control. Police are examining CCTV footage from the stretch.
Teams reached the site after calls from passers-by and Dial 112. The bodies were taken into custody for post-mortem examination. Sultanpur District Magistrate Indrajeet Singh and Superintendent of Police Vineet Jaiswal visited the spot. The mortal remains of Subedar Major Satyawan Singh were kept with due respect at Haliyapur police station while arrangements were made to hand them over to the family. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took note of the crash, expressed grief, and directed officials to expedite relief and assist the bereaved family.
The family, already returning with the Subedar Major’s body, has now lost its only son and two other male relatives in the same journey.
