Photo: facility
Gwalior/Bhopal: Fifteen persons, including many teenagers, were killed and more than 25 were injured when a speeding truck ploughed into devotees outside a temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior district early on Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief and announced financial assistance for the victims’ families, while Chief Minister Mohan Yadav ordered a probe and action against nine police personnel for alleged negligence.
The paddy-laden truck, bearing a Punjab registration number, entered a no-entry zone on Chinar Road at around 1.30 am, “came like a storm” and hit devotees waiting for darshan and roadside shops before crashing into the entrance gate of the 125-year-old Sheetla Mata temple, police and eyewitnesses said.
The impact brought down a section of the temple wall, trapping people under the debris, officials said. The truck driver fled the scene, and police teams searched for him and arrested him, they added.
President Droupadi Murmu termed the loss of lives saddening and expressed her deepest condolences to the bereaved families.
Modi expressed grief over the tragedy and announced ex gratia assistance of Rs 2 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased and Rs 50,000 to each injured person from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund, according to a government statement.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Yadav announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the family of each deceased, Rs 2 lakh to each seriously injured person and Rs 50,000 to other injured persons. The state will also bear the treatment expenses of the seriously injured, he said.
The truck broke through police barricades while hurtling down a slope towards the shrine, collector Ruchika Chouhan told reporters. Two police personnel were injured while trying to stop it, she said, adding that the regional transport office had been asked to examine the vehicle.
An investigator said the truck’s brakes might have failed, forcing the driver to swerve left in an attempt to control the vehicle. Had it continued straight, it would have ploughed into at least 600 to 700 devotees, he said.
The deceased were identified as Satendra Singh Gurjar (22), Sarla Tomar (50), Gaurav Parihar (18), Mahesh Sharma (45), Vimlesh Baghel (18), Devesh Baghel (17), Chhotu Jatav (16), Shaurya Sharma (16), Hemant Rathore (19), Divyansh Kushwah (17), Pawan Rathore (23), Lav Tyagi (15), Aman Tyagi (13), Ashok Tyagi (45) and Nitesh (18).
The accident occurred outside the temple, located about 20 km from Gwalior city, where thousands of devotees had gathered for Navratri prayers. Since vehicles are supposed to be parked about a kilometre from the shrine, it was not immediately clear how the truck entered the restricted area.
