A tragic accident claimed the life of 10-year-old Arya Sirohi, a Class 5 student, and injured five others when their school van collided with a cardboard-laden truck on Sardhana Road near Nagalatashi cut in Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, on Thursday morning. The van, driven by Shahnawaz from Bulandshahr, was en route to Army Public School, Kankarkheda, when it crossed a divider and was struck by the oncoming truck around 7:30 am, police said.

Arya, a resident of Ganpati Vihar, Kankarkheda, was pronounced dead at the scene. The five injured students, whose identities and conditions were not disclosed, received first aid and were shifted to the Army hospital by their families, according to Station House Officer Vinay Kumar Singh. Passersby alerted the police, who seized both vehicles. Both drivers fled the scene, and a manhunt is underway, with charges filed under Section 281 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for rash driving and Section 106(1) for causing death by negligence.

The incident, reported by Jagran and Webdunia, mirrors a pattern of school vehicle accidents in Uttar Pradesh, with 250 deaths on the Meerut-Muzaffarnagar toll road in the past five years, per RTI data. A similar crash in Amroha on July 18 killed a 5-year-old and a teacher, highlighting lax enforcement of school transport safety norms, such as overloading and speeding, noted in a 2024 Supreme Court plea. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath directed officials to ensure proper treatment for the injured, as the Army Public School and parents demand accountability.

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