Dense Fog Causes Fatal Accidents, Claims 4 Lives Across Northern India
Thick fog triggers fatal collisions across northern states.
Dense fog blanketed large parts of northern India on Saturday, severely reducing visibility and causing multiple vehicle collisions that claimed four lives and left around 30 people injured. The worst incident occurred on the Hoshiarpur-Dasuya road in Punjab, where a car collided with a bus in the early morning hours, resulting in the deaths of four men and injury to one person. Authorities attributed the tragedy directly to the extremely poor visibility created by the persistent fog layer.
Punjab and Haryana experienced particularly harsh cold conditions, with minimum temperatures dropping to bone-chilling levels. Hoshiarpur recorded 1.1 degrees Celsius, while Amritsar settled at 1.3 degrees Celsius. In Haryana, Narnaul registered 3.5 degrees Celsius, and several other districts hovered between 4 and 6 degrees Celsius. Chandigarh, the joint capital, recorded a minimum of 4 degrees Celsius amid widespread morning fog that affected road safety across the region.
In Rajasthan, dense fog led to two significant accidents on major highways. On the Jaipur-Delhi NH-48, a bus collided with a pickup vehicle, injuring approximately 25 passengers due to near-zero visibility. A separate crash in Jaisalmer involved a bus striking a police vehicle, leaving four police personnel—including a station house officer—injured. The state recorded minimum temperatures well below normal, with Dausa dipping to 3.5 degrees Celsius and several districts remaining under 5 degrees Celsius.
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Delhi recorded its coldest morning of the season with a minimum temperature of 4.2 degrees Celsius, 2.7 notches below the seasonal average. The India Meteorological Department issued a yellow alert for moderate to dense fog and warned of cold wave conditions expected to persist on Sunday and Monday. Air quality in the national capital deteriorated to the 'very poor' category, with an Air Quality Index of 366 recorded at 9 a.m.
Severe cold gripped higher elevations, with sub-zero temperatures reported across the Kashmir Valley, Himachal Pradesh, and parts of other northern states. Shopian in Kashmir recorded minus 8.2 degrees Celsius, while Kukumseri in Himachal Pradesh dipped to minus 10.9 degrees Celsius. The IMD forecast continued dry weather with dense fog and intensifying cold wave conditions likely in parts of Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, and northern India over the coming days.
Also Read: Delhi's Air Quality Drops to Very Poor Again with Thick Fog Blanket
