At least 18 Kanwariyas lost their lives in a road accident that occurred on Tuesday morning in Jharkhand's Deoghar district, claimed BJP MP Nishikant Dubey. At the same time, many other people are also reported to be injured.
In an X post, Dubey said, "In my Lok Sabha constituency of Deoghar, during the Kanwar Yatra in the month of Shravan, 18 devotees lost their lives due to a bus and truck accident. May Baba Baidyanath Ji grant strength to their families to bear this grief."
However, a police officer said five Kanwariyas lost their lives and several others sustained injuries in a road accident. Casualties may increase as the condition of many of the injured are serious, the officer added. Meanwhile, Traffic Deputy SP Laxman Prasad, however, said at least nine people have lost their lives in the accident, and the injured are being sent to hospitals.
How did the accident happen?
The incident occurred around 4:30 am when a bus carrying Kanwariyas collided with a gas cylinder-laden vehicle near the Jamuniya forest area under the jurisdiction of Mohanpur police station.
Inspector General (Dumka Zone) Shailendra Kumar Sinha told news agency PTI, "At least five persons were killed and many injured when a 32-seater bus carrying Kanwariyas collided with a truck transporting gas cylinders near Jamuniya forest in Mohanpur police station in Deoghar."
He said the district administration has been alerted and the injured were being rushed to nearby hospitals and primary health centres.
Jharkhand CM expresses grief
Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren expressed grief over the death of devotees and said that the district administration is providing relief and rescue operations along with medical facilities for the injured.
In a post on X, the Chief Minister said, "This morning, extremely sad news was received about the death of devotees traveling in a bus accident near Jamunia Chowk in the Mohanpur block of Deoghar. The district administration is providing relief and rescue operations along with medical facilities for the injured. May Baba Baidyanath grant peace to the souls of the devotees who died in the accident and give strength to the grieving families to bear this hour of sorrow."
(With PTI inputs)
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