India-Truck crash kills 23 workers and injures 35 going home amid lockdown

A truck crammed with migrant labourers trying to reach their distant homes amid a nationwide lockdown crashed in northern India on Saturday, killing at least 23 and injuring 35,Reuters reported.

The accident occurred before daybreak, when the truck collided with another truck that was parked by a roadside eatery in the Auraiya district of Uttar Pradesh state, Abhishek Singh Meena, the top district official said.

“The rescue operation is almost complete and 23 people have been killed in the accident,” Singh told Reuters, adding that 20 people had suffered serious injuries, while the rest had minor wounds.

The migrants mainly hailed from the states of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal.

India locked down its 1.3 billion citizens almost seven weeks ago in an attempt to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus, sparking a crisis for the hundreds of millions of Indians that rely on daily wages to survive.

With no work – and little public transport – many urban migrants attempting to return to their home villages have set out on gruelling journeys on foot, or hitching rides in the back of trucks.