In a tragic incident, 11 pilgrims en route to the Purnagiri temple in Uttarakhand lost their lives when a gravel-loaded dumper truck overturned onto their bus, burying them underneath its contents.
The incident occurred on Saturday night at Hajiyapur village in Shahjahanpur under the Khutar police station area. The privately-owned bus had stopped at a roadside eatery on its journey to the temple in Tanakpur, Uttarakhand, with some pilgrims alighting for dinner while others remained on board.
Suddenly, the dumper truck carrying gravel lost control, toppled over, and landed on the bus, spilling its load onto the waiting pilgrims, causing severe injuries and fatalities.
According to Shahjahanpur Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Meena, among the victims were Sudhanshu (7), Aditya (8), Ajit (15), Rohini (20), Pramod (30), Seema (30), Suman Devi (36), Ramgopal (48), Shiv Shankar (48), and Chutki (50), who lost their lives at the scene. Sonavati (45) succumbed to injuries during treatment.
All the passengers aboard the bus hailed from Jetha village in Sitapur district.
Local police and villagers rushed to the scene to rescue survivors trapped inside the bus. The driver of the dumper truck fled the scene and the police are looking for him.
President Droupadi Murmu on Sunday expressed condolences to the bereaved families.
“The news of the death of several people in a road accident in Shahjahanpur, Uttar Pradesh, is very sad. I express my condolences to the bereaved families and pray for the speedy recovery of those injured,” the president said in a post on X in Hindi.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath extended his condolences to the families of the deceased and instructed the district administration to ensure proper treatment for the injured people. Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami also condoled the loss.
