29 pilgrims killed in Haryana accident

Bhiwani (Haryana), July 30 (IANS) At least 29 pilgrims, including three children, on their way back from a shrine in Rajasthan were killed in a head-on collision between two trucks in Haryana's Bhiwani district Monday morning, police said.

Twenty-two people died on the spot, while seven others succumbed to their injuries in hospital, a police officer here said. The dead included 10 women and three children.

Police officials in Bhiwani and Hisar said at least 25 people were injured in the accident, which took place near Sainiwas village in Bhiwani district. They were shifted to hospitals in Hisar town, 15 km from the accident site.

Two of the seriously injured people were rushed to the Post-graduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS) at Rohtak for treatment.

The accident took place on the Hisar-Rajgarh road, 270 km from state capital Chandigarh.

The victims, who belonged to Kalayat and Deeg area of Kaithal district, were returning from pilgrimage at the Amarpura Dham shrine in neighbouring Rajasthan, said Bhiwani district police chief Satheesh Balan.

The canter truck in which the victims were travelling was totally wrecked following the accident. According to a police spokesman, at least 57 people were travelling in the vehicle when the accident took place.

People working in the fields took out the bodies of the dead and injured from the canter truck.

Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda expressed shock and grief over the death of 29 people in the road accident.

Hooda cancelled his programmes at Kurukshetra Monday and rushed to Hisar to meet the survivors and families of the victims.