Three Nashik pilgrims killed as van rams trailer on Jaipur-Ajmer highway near Bagru

Three pilgrims from Maharashtra were killed and many more injured when the van they were travelling in crashed into a trailer truck on the Jaipur-Ajmer highway near Bagru in the early hours of Saturday.

The van was carrying 28 devotees from Nashik district. They had visited the Khatu Shyamji temple and were heading to the Sanwaliya Seth temple in Chittorgarh. The group left Jaipur at around 10:30 pm on Friday. At about 1:50 am, as the van came down the Bagru flyover near the bus stand, it hit a trailer truck moving ahead of it on National Highway 48.

Three people died on the spot. Between 18 and 25 others were injured. They were first taken to the Bagru sub-district hospital, and seven of the most seriously hurt were referred to Sawai Man Singh (SMS) Hospital in Jaipur.

What the passengers say

Chandrabhan, the station house officer at Bagru police station, said the van had collided with the trailer truck. Police have not yet said what caused the crash and have opened an investigation.

Injured passengers said the driver lost control while trying to overtake the truck. Some of them alleged that he had been drinking, a claim police have not confirmed. The driver has not been named.

One of the injured, Pravin, said the group had not wanted to travel through the night. “We had asked the driver not to travel at night, but he did not listen,” he said.

At the hospital

Doctors at the SMS Hospital trauma centre were treating the seven patients brought in from Bagru on Saturday morning. Dr Rajendra Mandia, who is in charge of the trauma centre, said two of them were in a critical state. “Two of the seven seriously injured patients have been admitted due to their critical condition,” he said.

The names of the dead and injured have not been released, and Bagru police are still trying to establish exactly how the crash happened.