At least 18 Kanwariyas lost their lives and ten others sustained injuries in a road accident near Jamuniya village in Jharkhand's Deoghar district on Tuesday. The fatal collision occurred during the ongoing Shravani Mela, a religious pilgrimage that draws thousands of devotees to the Baba Baidyanath Dham temple.
Taking to social media platform X, BJP MP Nishikant Dubey said, "In my Lok Sabha constituency of Deoghar, during the Kanwar Yatra in the month of Shravan, 18 devotees lost their lives due to a bus and truck accident. May Baba Baidyanath Ji grant strength to their families to bear this grief."
The accident took place in the Mohanpur block of Deoghar, close to the banks of the Jamuniya River and near a revered Shiva-Parvati temple. A bus carrying around 35 devotees en route to Deoghar was struck head-on by a truck laden with gas cylinders.
The impact of the collision was devastating. Eyewitnesses described the aftermath as harrowing, with the bus reportedly torn apart by the force of the crash.
Emergency services, including local police, ambulance crews, and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), responded swiftly to the scene. Rescue teams worked together to extract the injured and recover the deceased from the mangled remains of the vehicle.
The injured were immediately transported to nearby primary health centres and Deoghar Sadar Hospital. Medical officials confirmed that several of the wounded are in critical condition. Authorities are in the process of verifying the identities of the deceased, and post-mortem examinations are being carried out.
Senior district officials, including members of the civil and police administration, reached the accident site to coordinate rescue efforts. They later visited the hospitals to check on the injured and monitor the medical response.
A crane was brought in to clear the wreckage and assist in the ongoing rescue operation. Preliminary investigations have commenced, with officials focusing on whether driver negligence played a role in the deadly crash.
