At least 13 people were killed and several others injured after a truck rammed into devotees near the Sheetla Mata Temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior in the early hours of Sunday.
According to Gwalior Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Dharmveer Singh, the incident occurred at around 1:30 am when a paddy-laden truck lost control while descending a steep slope.
Reports said the truck breached police barricades before ploughing into the pilgrims and crashing into the temple’s gate and outer wall. Police had restricted heavy vehicle movement on the steep road leading from the Chhinor side.
“According to the information received so far, a total of 39 people have been taken to the hospital, of whom 12 have died. Five or six patients are critically injured with fractures, while the rest have sustained minor injuries and are undergoing treatment,” Singh said.
Authorities later confirmed one more death, taking the toll to 13.
Gwalior Collector Ruchika Chauhan said an investigation had been launched to determine how the truck managed to cross the barricades and police checkpoint set up along the route during Navratri.
Authorities have also deployed a Regional Transport Office (RTO) team to conduct a mechanical inspection of the truck and ascertain the cause of the accident.
“We have also sent an RTO team to inspect the truck mechanically and find out what issue occurred and how it veered to the left,” Chauhan said.
