Bus rams bike carrying family of five; woman, infant among 3 dead

Varanasi: Three members of a family, including a four-month-old infant, were killed and two others seriously injured after a bus hit a motorcycle carrying five people in violation of traffic rules on the Saidpur-Bahriyabad road in Ghazipur district on Sunday.

The victims, all from Shahpur village, were returning home after visiting a family member at a hospital in Varanasi.Ghazipur ASP (City) Rakesh Kumar Mishra said Pratik Giri (26) was riding the motorcycle with his wife, Kajal Giri (23), their four-month-old son Sahjal, their one-and-a-half-year-old daughter Shreya, and his elder brother’s wife Ritu Devi (25). They were passing through a sub-lane of the Saidpur-Bahriyabad road underpass when a bus coming from the opposite direction hit the motorcycle near Sharifpur.Kajal, Ritu and Sahjal died on the spot. Police rushed Pratik and Shreya to the hospital, where Pratik's condition was stated to be critical. The bus driver was arrested and the vehicle seized, police said.During the initial investigation, police found that Pratik's mother-in-law had undergone surgery on Saturday. The victims had gone to see her before visiting a relative in Nadwa Mathiyan village in Azamgarh. They were returning to Shahpur on Sunday morning when the accident occurred.Eyewitnesses said Kajal, Ritu and Sahjal, who was in his mother’s lap, came under the wheels of the bus and died on the spot. Police chased the bus and took the driver into custody.