5 dead as tree falls on e-rickshaw during storm in Firozabad

Agra: Five people died and two others, including a three-year-old boy, were critically injured after a tree was uprooted during a sudden dust storm and crashed onto a moving e-rickshaw in UP’s Firozabad district on Monday evening, officials said on Tuesday.

The tree also snapped overhead high-tension power lines, triggering a power outage and hampering rescue operations.According to Fariha SHO Rajiv Kumar, the accident took place on the Awagarh-Fariha road near Prithvi Singh Chhidrai village. “The e-rickshaw was ferrying passengers from Awagarh in Etah to Fariha,” the SHO said.Jasrana DSP Prem Prakash Pandey, along with police teams from multiple stations, rushed to the spot.

A bulldozer was deployed to remove the trunk and debrisas the fallen tree blocked the road. Police personnel, assisted by residents, launched a rescue operation, but the five occupants had already succumbed to their injuries.The dead include Vishnu Kumar (20), the e-rickshaw driver; Gajendra (28), a shopkeeper returning home after leaving his pregnant wife at her mother’s home; Hareshpal (59), who was on his way to his daughter’s home to attend a ceremony (all residents of Firozabad); Aman (17) and farmer Ganga Singh (65) were from Etah. The critically injured are Phoolmala (30) and her three-year-old son, Anurag, both residents of Firozabad and are undergoing treatment at a trauma centre.District magistrate Santosh Kumar Sharma said, “The state govt has been informed and efforts are underway to provide compensation to the victims’ families from the disaster relief fund.”