At least 12 die in Bihar as speeding truck ploughs into religious procession
The Hindu
The accident took place about 30 km from the State capital, around 9 p.m. when the procession had gathered in front of a “peepal” tree on the roadside to offer prayers to a local deity
At least 12 people, a third of them children, were killed and several others were injured when a speeding truck ploughed into a religious procession in Bihar’s Vaishali district on Sunday evening, officials said.
The accident took place in Desri police station area of the north Bihar district, about 30 km from the State capital, around 9 p.m. when the procession had gathered in front of a “peepal” tree on the roadside to offer prayers to a local deity “Bhumiya baba”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the accident and announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh to the next of kin of each deceased and ₹50,000 to each injured persons.
“The accident in Vaishali, Bihar is saddening. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover soon. An ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh from PMNRF (Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund) would be given to the next of kin of each deceased. The injured would be given ₹50,000,” the PM said on Twitter.
RJD MLA Mukesh Roushan, under whose Mahua assembly constituency the site of the incident falls, rushed to the area and said “at least nine people have died on the spot. Many others have been taken to the Sadar hospital at Hajipur (the district headquarters), and three succumbed to injuries on the way. Those whose conditions are critical are being referred to hospitals in Patna”.
Vaishali Superintendent of Police Manish Kumar said “the procession was taken out as part of a custom associated with marriages. A wedding was scheduled in a few days at the house of a resident of Sultanpur village nearby. The driver of the truck speeding through the adjacent Mahnar-Hajipur highway lost control. He is stuck inside the mangled vehicle and we fear that he might have died”.
Locals claimed that the deceased included at least four children.
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