Uttar Pradesh's government was left red-faced after reports that the migrant workers, who were injured in Saturday's road accident in Auraiya district, were sent home by trucks on which the bodies of the dead workers were also kept.
One of the injured posted a video on the social networking sites showing the workers sitting in a corner in the trucks and the dead bodies, which were wrapped in black polythene, in another corner.
Taking cognisance of the video, Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren blasted his UP counterpart Yogi Adityanath and directed the state officials to arrange ambulances to carry the dead bodies and buses for the injured workers.
An embarrassed UP government then swung into action and transferred the dead bodies into ambulances at Prayagraj, about 300 km from Auraiya, late on Sunday night.
''The dead bodies were not kept on ice...they were just wrapped...it was difficult to drive owing to the foul stench emanating from the dead bodies,'' the driver of one of the trucks said.
The opposition parties attacked the UP government for what they termed its 'insensitivity'. ''The workers deserve humanitarian treatment,'' BSP supremo Mayawati said.
Congress leader Pramod Tewari also slammed the state government and demanded a judicial probe into the incident.
Twenty-six migrant workers, including women, were killed and over two dozens injured, in a collision between two trucks in Auraiya district in the wee hours on Saturday.