Truck Crashes Into Devotees Near Gwalior Temple, Killing at Least 14

At least 14 people were killed after a truck crashed into devotees near the Sheetla Mata Temple in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, in the early hours of Sunday, during the Navratri festival.

The crash happened at about 1:30 a.m. on the road from Chhinor, Senior Superintendent of Police Dharmveer Singh said. A large number of devotees were heading to the temple, about 18 kilometres from the district headquarters. The road slopes steeply, and heavy vehicles are barred from it during the festival crowds.

Singh said a truck loaded with paddy broke through police barricades, lost control coming down the slope, ran over devotees on the road and crashed into the temple outer wall and gate. Reports said the truck also hit shops and stalls along the approach road. Two police officers on duty at the spot were injured.

Toll rises as injured are treated

Singh said in an early statement that 39 people had been taken to hospital, of whom 12 had died. Five to six patients were seriously injured with fractures, and the rest had minor injuries, he said.

Gwalior Collector Ruchika Chauhan later confirmed that the death toll had risen to 14, ANI reported. Nation Press, reporting the same rise to 14 with 27 injured, named 11 of the dead and said officials were still trying to identify three others. The Daily Jagran reported a still higher count, 18 killed and 30 injured, in an update on Sunday morning. Officials quoted by ANI had not confirmed that higher figure when this story was published.

Chauhan said ambulances and other vehicles were sent to the site as soon as word of the crash arrived, and that doctors were carrying out CT scans and X rays to guide treatment of the injured.

Questions over the checkpoint

How the truck got onto the road is now the central question in the official inquiry. Chauhan said a stopper and a police checkpoint were in place on the road during Navratri.

"How the vehicle managed to get inside is a matter of investigation," she said. "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."

Families who gathered at the hospital and the postmortem centre alleged police negligence and a delayed rescue, ANI reported. Some relatives said police reached the site hours after the crash, that victims were not taken to hospital at once, and that families were stopped from searching for missing relatives. Those claims are allegations reported by ANI, and officials have not answered them in detail in the reports cited here.

State aid announced

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the state government stood with the affected families and announced Rs 4 lakh for the family of each person killed, Rs 2 lakh for each seriously injured person and Rs 50,000 for each other injured person, with free treatment for all the injured. He said the affected families are from Gwalior, Shivpuri and Sheopur, and he directed two ministers, Aidal Singh Kansana and Rakesh Shukla, to reach Gwalior.

The investigation into the crash and the checkpoint is continuing, and officials said further details were awaited.