MANDI/SHIMLA (Munish Sood)
Fifteen pilgrims from Himachal Pradesh were injured after the bus they were travelling in met with an accident in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur district on Tuesday (February 11, 2024) morning.
The devotees were returning from Ayodhya after visiting Ram Temple when their traveller vehicle overturned near Basupur on the Baraunsa-Papar road.
The accident, which occurred around 8 am, resulted in severe injuries to several passengers, with one woman in critical condition referred to Sultanpur Medical College. Officials confirmed that three men and 12 women were among the injured.
8 ambulances pressed into service
Following the mishap, local villagers rushed to the spot and helped rescue the trapped passengers. Eight ambulances (102 and 108 services) were deployed to transport the injured to the Jaisinghpur Community Health Centre.
Authorities arrived swiftly at the scene. Jaisinghpur SDM Shiv Prasad and Tehsildar Mayank Mishra visited the victims at the hospital and assured full assistance. Officials confirmed that all passengers are now out of danger.
The injured have been identified as:
- J.R. Mukhiya
- Vinod Kumar
- Devendra Dogra
- Anjana Sharma
- Chandrakanta
- Lakshmi
- Geeta Devi
- Matti Devi
- Kesari Devi
- Pramila Devi
- Shilpa
- Mayati Devi
- Veera Devi
- Uma Devi
- Sushma Bharadwaj (critically injured, referred to higher centre)
Recurring accidents involving Himachali pilgrims
On February 8, another group of Himachali pilgrims met with an accident in Uttar Pradesh’s Hamirpur district while returning from the Mahakumbh. Two persons, Nirmala (60) and Surendra Rana (50), had died while 11 others were injured.
The traveller they were in collided with a parked truck, possibly due to the driver dozing off. The victims in this accident hailed from Choti Dolly village in Baijnath tehsil of Kangra district in Himachal Pradesh.
