Gwalior, 18 October (H.S.) : The administration has confirmed that 14 people died and 29 were injured, seven of them critically, in a road accident near the Sheetla Mata temple in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, on the night between Saturday and Sunday. The dead include women, children and elderly people. After midnight, on the occasion of Saptami, a speeding truck lost control on the slope of Chinaur Road, broke through police barriers and ploughed into worshippers who had come for the Goddess’s darshan, along with shops and the temple’s entrance gate. The impact brought down a wall, and dozens of people were buried under the rubble. Grief has descended on the bereaved families.

According to eyewitnesses, the devotees who had come for darshan on Saptami had no time to react. The truck came down the slope at speed and the driver lost control of the vehicle. Shops lined the roadside. Devotees were buying prasad before darshan and moving ahead to enter the temple when the truck ploughed into the crowd. Within moments, the festive atmosphere turned to screams and chaos. Many people lay injured on the road, while others were trapped under the truck and the collapsed wall.

Relief and rescue work began immediately after the accident. Local residents joined the police and administration in pulling the injured from the rubble. Extracting those trapped under the truck took considerable effort. According to eyewitness Saurabh Parihar, it took two to three hours to remove the truck. People even tried taking off its tyres and using jacks to shift the vehicle. Locals kept working continuously to free those buried in the debris.

After the incident, Collector Ruchika Chauhan and Superintendent of Police Dharmveer Singh Yadav visited the hospital. The officials met the injured and asked doctors about their treatment. The administration has directed that the injured be given the best possible care. The bodies of the dead were taken to the hospital, and arrangements were made to hand them to their families once post-mortem formalities are complete. Work continues to assist families, treat the injured and gather information on missing persons.

Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav expressed deep grief over the incident and announced financial assistance of ₹4 lakh (₹400,000) to the families of the dead, ₹2 lakh (₹200,000) to the seriously injured and ₹50,000 to the other injured. He also directed that all the injured be treated free of charge. The affected families are from Gwalior, Shivpuri and Sheopur. The Chief Minister has instructed ministers Aidal Singh Kansana and Rakesh Shukla to reach Gwalior. The deaths of children, teenagers, women and elderly people have raised serious questions about the safety of devotees and traffic management at religious events.

Chief Minister: Government Stands with Affected Families in This Hour of Grief

Describing the accident as deeply heart-rending, Chief Minister Dr Mohan Yadav expressed his condolences to the bereaved families on the social media platform X. He wrote: “The news of the deaths of devotees in the truck accident in Gwalior is deeply heart-rending. In this hour of grief, the state government stands with all the affected families. My condolences go to the families of all the deceased.”

Announcing financial assistance on behalf of the state government, the Chief Minister directed that the injured receive proper treatment. According to the government, each family of the dead will receive ₹4 lakh, the seriously injured ₹2 lakh and the other injured ₹50,000. All the injured will be treated free of cost. Two ministers have also been told to reach the spot to bring relief to the affected families. In his message, the Chief Minister prayed to Baba Mahakal to grant the departed a place at his feet, to give the grieving families the strength to bear this profound sorrow, and to grant the injured a swift recovery. He ended the message with “Om Shanti”.

By eight in the morning, Dr Sudhir Saxena, superintendent of Gwalior’s 1,000-bed hospital, had confirmed 13 deaths. At nine, the Collector’s office announced that the toll had risen to 14, with 29 injured, of whom seven remain in a serious condition. The injured have been admitted to different hospitals and include women, men and children. Two police personnel and a Home Guard jawan on duty were also injured. The administration is gathering information about those admitted to other hospitals and about the identification of the dead.

The most painful scenes of the accident were at the hospitals, where families kept arriving in the hope that their injured relatives were safe. One person was looking for his son, another was seeking news of a brother and nephew. In the hospital premises, the helplessness and anger were plain in the eyes of grieving relatives. The biggest question after the accident concerns traffic control and security arrangements. According to Superintendent of Police Dharmveer Singh Yadav, heavy vehicles had been stopped from using the road to the temple in view of the crowds of devotees. Even so, a truck laden with heavy cargo broke through the police barriers and reached the temple. The reasons for the truck going out of control and possible lapses in security arrangements are being investigated.

Lokendra Singh Tomar, nephew of Sarla Tomar, who died in the accident, questioned the system, asking how the truck got in when the administration had made security arrangements, and who had allowed it to enter. He said that those responsible should be held accountable. According to Collector Ruchika Chauhan, the truck, coming from the Chinaur side along an elevated stretch, went out of control and ran towards the temple. The barriers at the spot were found broken. The truck crushed devotees and roadside shops and struck the temple’s entrance gate, bringing down the wall. Many people were buried under the fallen wall.

Treatment of the Injured Continues; Families’ Anxiety Grows

The dead identified so far are Vimlesh, Gaurav Parihar, Chhotu Jatav, Shaurya Sharma, Devesh Baghel, Sarla Tomar, Satyendra Gurjar and Mahesh Sharma. The injured have been admitted to different hospitals. The names on the available list are Kaushik Pal (25), Janvi Pal (22), Yash Sharma (11), Nitesh/Ritesh (18), Aashu Sharma (19), Manish (32), Anuj Sharma (19), Raj Bahadur (20), Shubham Rathore (21), Rajesh Singh (32), Munnuddin Khan (56), Pawan Rathore (28), Shivam Sharma (19), Rajendra Sharma (60), Anupriya Goswami (18), Sonu Tomar (42), Shailendra Tomar (17), Ravi Kushwaha (20), Radha Rathore (19), Aditya Yadav (19), Vivek Rathore (20), Sabbi (29), Sawan Maurya (33) and Nikesh Jatav (18). Details of the identity and age of some other injured people are being gathered.

Searching for Loved Ones in Hospitals, Grief in Families

Painful scenes were seen in the hospitals after the accident. Relatives were distraught as they tried to find information about the injured and the dead. Savitri, a relative of Divyansh, said the family had come out after darshan but her sister-in-law’s son Divyansh was missing; he was identified only after a long search. According to Sandeep, a relative of Nikesh, a resident of Thatipur, they received a phone call at around five in the morning saying his brother was injured. When they reached the spot, Nikesh was found in a serious condition, with both legs broken, and he was put on a ventilator. Another woman was frantically searching for her son Chhotu, while his friend Abhishek was admitted to hospital injured.

Collector: Investigation Will Reveal the Cause of the Lapse

According to Collector Ruchika Chauhan, the truck came down the slope out of control towards the temple. Broken barriers were found at the scene. The reasons for the truck going out of control and possible lapses in the security arrangements are being investigated. The administration has said it will provide better treatment for the injured and help needy families through the Red Cross. Collector Chauhan and the police administration are working fully to provide hospital care and necessary assistance. District Magistrate Chauhan is meeting the families of each of the dead and injured, offering comfort and the required help.

---------------

Hindusthan Samachar / Mayank Chaturvedi