Khushboo Patani Helps Accident Victims, Flags 1.5-Hour Ambulance Delay After Moradabad Crash

Khushboo Patani, sister of Bollywood actor Disha Patani and a serving Indian Army lieutenant, stopped her vehicle on Sunday evening to render first aid at the scene of a horrific collision on the Delhi-Lucknow Highway after a speeding Uttar Pradesh roadways bus rammed an overloaded auto-rickshaw from behind. Six members of the same family, including two children aged 12 and 15, were killed instantly or succumbed shortly after, while five others sustained critical injuries. The victims, all residents of Abdullahpur village under Kundarki police station limits, were travelling to a wedding in Rafatpur when the tragedy occurred near Rampur Road.

In a video posted to Instagram that has since gone viral, Khushboo Patani highlighted the shocking delay in emergency response, stating that more than an hour and a half passed before the first ambulance reached the spot. Forced to act, she and a few other passers-by pulled the injured clear of the wreckage, arranged private autos to ferry four to five persons who were still breathing to nearby hospitals, and helped shift bodies off the highway. “In the beginning we sent 4-5 people who were still breathing in a car because the ambulance took 1.5 hours to arrive,” she said, visibly shaken.

She also sharply criticised onlookers who were filming the carnage instead of helping, calling the practice “absolutely wrong.” “When I arrived, there were 2-3 boys only making videos and not offering any help. As Indian citizens, our priority should be to save lives first,” she urged, adding that fear of police harassment should not deter Good Samaritans. The deceased have been identified as Mati, alias Sanju (30); Suman (30); Seema (35); Aarti (20); Aman (15); and Ananya (12).

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Police have registered a case against the roadways bus driver under sections for rash and negligent driving causing death, and the vehicle has been impounded. Local authorities are facing intense scrutiny over the delayed ambulance response on one of the country’s busiest national highways, with senior officials promising an inquiry into the 108 emergency service lapse. Khushboo Patani’s intervention and subsequent appeal have reignited national conversation about bystander apathy and systemic failures in trauma care on Indian roads.

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