The motorcyclist, one Vinod, died on the spot while Sunil, behind the wheels of an Indica car, was seriously injured, the police said.

Senior Superintendent of Police Deepak Ratan said, “We have arrested the bus driver for negligent driving. But the other accidents were triggered by reduced visibility, so they have been let off.”

It was around 7 am, and Hapur resident Vinod was gunning his bike on NH-24. His destination: Ghaziabad. Suddenly, witnesses told the police, an Uttaranchal Roadways bus appeared out of nowhere and ran him over. With visibility near zero, a Tata Indica car rammed into the bus and was, in turn, hit by a dumper. With the bus, the car and the dumper holding up the road, and fog making matters worse, several vehicles joined the pile-up in no time flat.

The result: Besides Indica driver Sunil, 11 others were injured. They were later taken to a private hospital.