Two Bathinda residents die, 20 injured as truck overturns

Two persons were killed and 20 others were injured when a truck carrying pilgrims overturned near Dhaliara in Kangra district on Tuesday, the police said here today. The pilgrims were travelling from Bathinda district in Punjab to perform langar sewa at the Chamunda Devi Temple in Kangra district. Six of the seriously injured pilgrims have been referred to the Tanda medical college while the remaining were admitted to the Dehra Civil Hospital.

According to the Dehra police, the driver lost control over the wheel and the truck collided with a Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) bus plying from Dharamsala to Hoshiarpur. The truck overturned and fell into a gorge near the Radha Soami Satsang Bhawan, the police added.

The accident occurred at a turn near Dhaliara on the National Highway-503. Besides the pilgrims, the truck was carrying over 12 gas cylinders and other items for use in the langar sewa. Fortunately, no cylinder exploded during the accident.

The HRTC bus driver said, “The truck rammed into my bus after its driver lost control over the wheel. The truck driver attempted to flee. Some pilgrims jumped off the truck in fear. The bus passengers were shifted to another bus while one of them sustained minor injuries.”

The SP of Dehra police district, Mayank Chaudhary, told mediapersons that there were more than 20 pilgrims in the truck. While two pilgrims died, six others were referred to the Tanda medical college.