Etawah, 26 June

Two passengers were killed and about 50 were injured when a double-decker bus travelling from Bihar to Delhi overturned and plunged into a ditch on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway in the Saifai area early Thursday, police said.

The accident occurred near the Mandi village when the speeding bus lost control while attempting to overtake a truck.

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Brijesh Kumar Srivastava said that the accident caused panic among the passengers. Passersby in other vehicles informed the police and highway security, added.

"A joint rescue operation was launched to rescue the trapped passengers from the bus. The injured were transported by ambulance to the nearby Saifai Medical College Hospital for treatment, while the bodies of the deceased were moved to the mortuary," said the SSP.

The two deceased have been identified as Shaida (22), a resident of Bardah in Nepal, and Manoj Kumar (52) from Rampur Deeha in Bihar's Darbhanga.

The bus was carrying around 80 passengers.