KANPUR: A bizarre scene unfolded on the Lucknow-Agra Expressway in Kannauj on Saturday morning, when a pick-up truck carrying poultry chickens overturned, leading to a mad rush by locals to grab the chickens. The truck had flipped after its driver, identified as Salim, fell asleep behind the wheel. The chaotic scramble, which left the injured driver and his cleaner, Kaleem, stranded and unattended, was captured on video by onlookers, and the footage quickly went viral on social media.
The incident, which occurred at the 142-km mark in the Sakarawa area of Kannauj, sparked an online debate about crowd behavior and ethics. Locals from nearby villages surged to the scene, prioritizing the theft of chickens over offering help to the injured. It was only when police and officials from the Uttar Pradesh Expressways Industrial Development (UPEID) arrived that order was restored and the crowd dispersed.
The driver and cleaner were both admitted to a nearby hospital in Kannauj with injuries. The truck, which was transporting chickens from Amethi to Firozabad, had collided with a divider and overturned. According to police, the driver had fallen asleep, causing him to lose control of the vehicle.
“We are in the process of identifying those who took the chickens from the scene,” said Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Ajay Kumar. “Strict action will be initiated against them.” Despite the chaos, the ASP noted that the injured victims received no medical help from the crowd, as villagers were focused on collecting the poultry instead.
The incident briefly disrupted traffic on the expressway, but order was restored once the authorities intervened. The viral video has since raised concerns about public decency and the lack of immediate assistance for the injured, while also prompting a review of crowd management in such incidents.