15 killed in road mishaps as fog persists in Punjab, Haryana

At least 15 people were killed in road accidents caused due to reduced visibility as a thick blanket of fog today engulfed entire Punjab and Haryana even as the air, rail and road traffic in the region were adversely affected.

Thirteen persons were killed in a collision between a multi-utility vehicle and a truck on the Fazilka-Jalalabad road in Fazilka district of Punjab today, police said.

In another fog related accident, two persons were killed and another was injured in a head-on collision between a truck and a jeep near village Sarsaud, about 20 km from Hisar in Haryana on the Hisar-Chandigarh road.
 

Both accidents were caused due to dense fog which has reduced visibility in the region to less than 50 meters.

Also, many flights from Chandigarh were either cancelled or delayed, trains criss crossing the region were running hours behind schedule due to foggy weather, officials said.

The traffic on roads moved at a slow pace with headlights on in majority of the region.

According to the MeT office, most of the places in the region, including Ludhiana, Patiala, Ambala, Hisar and Karnal had less than 50 meters visibility due to a dense fog.

The minimum temperature in the region hovered between one notch below normal to five degrees Celsius above normal, the MeT office said here.

While Narnaul settled at a low of six degrees Celsius, Karnal and Hisar recorded lows of 8.2 degrees Celsius and 8.5 degrees Celsius respectively.

Among other places, the minimum temperature in Chandigarh was recorded at 8.7 degrees Celsius, followed by 9.4 degrees Celsius in Ambala, 9.7 degrees Celsius in Amritsar, 9.8 degrees Celsius in Ludhiana and 10 degrees Celsius in Patiala.

The MeT department has forecast dry weather in the region during the next 48 hours with foggy conditions.

"Dense fog will prevail over the next two days after which visibility levels will improve for a few days due to a Western Disturbance which was approaching the region," an MeT official said.