12 pilgrims from Gujarat killed as trailer rams into bus in Bharatpur

Twelve pilgrims from Gujarat’s Bhavnagar district died and as many were injured when a 10-wheel trailer rammed into their stationary bus on the Agra-Jaipur National Highway on Wednesday.

The bus, carrying 57 passengers, was on its way to Mathura in UP when the accident took place near Hantra in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan around 4.30am.

The accident was so horrific that 11 of the victims died on the spot, while one woman succumbed during treatment at hospital. Seven of the deceased were women. The bodies were scattered on the side of the highway.

Police reached the spot after being alerted by passing motorists. The injured were rushed to hospital. The trailer driver has been arrested.

The bus had come to a halt on a flyover as its diesel tank’s pipe had burst.

Many passengers had exited the bus and were sitting on the roadside, as the driver had informed them that the repair work would take about an hour.

All the victims were from Dihor village in Bhavnagar. The pilgrims had hired the private bus and embarked on the tour on September 9.

The group had left for Mathura after performing an aarti at Pushkar on Tuesday evening.

The truck driver, Sarvesh Kumar, fled the spot and hid at a hotel about 10km away, said a police officer. “The driver said that because of darkness he couldn’t determine if the bus was stationary,” the officer added.