New Delhi, 13 April (H.S.):

President Droupadi Murmu has extended profound condolences for the devastating loss of lives in a horrific road accident on Gujarat's Lakhtar-Viramgam highway, underscoring national solidarity with the bereaved families.

In the pre-dawn hours of April 13, 2026, around 1:20-1:30 a.m., a speeding dumper truck mercilessly ploughed into a group of approximately 500 Bharwad community pilgrims traversing on foot from Rajkot's Gadhka village toward the sacred Bahucharaji temple near Viramgam. The collision, near Chharad and Bhaskarpara villages in Surendranagar district, claimed seven lives—including six pilgrims—and left four to twelve others critically injured, with some accounts citing a stationary vehicle prompting the group toward the road's median.

Eyewitnesses recounted the truck's failure to brake, possibly exacerbated by high velocity amid low visibility, turning a devotional procession into a scene of profound sorrow. Local police swiftly responded, airlifting the gravely wounded to nearby hospitals while detaining the driver for inquiry into negligence or mechanical failure.

Additional Superintendent of Police Vedika Bihani confirmed the scale, highlighting the pilgrims' ritualistic journey for temple darshan and flag-hoisting as the poignant backdrop to this preventable calamity.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Jun Sarkar