Several vehicles collided on the Delhi-Muradabad highway in Uttar Pradesh on Monday due to the prevailing fog conditions in the state. According to the police, around 10 cars collided with each other as the visibility turned almost zero. The incident took place in the Haifzpur Kotwali area in Hapur, which is approximately 86 kilometres from the national capital.

One person was injured in the major accident and has been taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, the police said.

Further details are awaited.

A thick blanket of fog engulfed several parts of north India on Monday morning amid cold weather conditions. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the minimum visibility was recorded at zero in most parts of Uttar Pradesh and the national capital.

The weather department on Sunday predicted dense to very dense fog conditions across Uttar Pradesh for the next couple of days.

“Dense fog along with a drop of two to three degrees Celsius temperature over next 2-3 days are likely. A warning of the likelihood of dense fog at isolated places over West Uttar Pradesh and chances of dense to very dense fog at isolated places over East Uttar Pradesh has been issued,” an official said.

Meanwhile, eight flights were diverted from Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International or IGI airport were diverted – seven to Jaipur and one to Ahmedabad – due to a thick layer of fog, bringing down the visibility to zero in some parts of the city. The Delhi airport also issued an advisory for passengers saying, “While landing and take-offs continue at Delhi airport, flights that are not CAT III compliant may get affected. Passengers requested to contact the airline concerned for updated flight information. Any inconvenience caused is deeply regretted.”

Accidents due to dense fog

In a similar incident, three people were killed and one was injured in a road accident that took place under the Dhorimanna police station area in Rajasthan’s Barmer district on Monday morning. According to the police, the incident took place due to the dense fog in the area. The driver responsible for the collision fled the scene, leaving the car wrecked, said police.

Meanwhile, several people travelling in a Haryana roadways bus were injured after it collided with a trolley near Ashrafgarh Dauri village in the Jind district. According to passengers, the accident took place due to the dense fog in the area, reported ANI.