At least seven pilgrims, comprising three women, were killed and eight injured in a road crash in Haryana's Jind district early Tuesday, police said.
All the passengers were trapped inside the vehicle, and the spot was filled with screams.
The accident occurred on the Hisar-Chandigarh National Highway when a truck loaded with logs rear-ended a passenger van (Tata Magic). After the crash, the van veered off the road and fell into a ditch. The van, carrying devotees, was going from Haryana's Kurukshetra to Gogamedi in the Hanumangarh district of Rajasthan.
The truck driver fled from the spot after the accident.
The victims, belonging to Mercheri village of Kurukshetra, left home on Monday evening. The accident occurred near Bidharana village of Narwana.
According to the police, the injured were initially taken to the Civil Hospital in Narwana, but later referred to a hospital in Agroha. At the Narwana hospital, doctors declared seven dead.
Passersby attempted to rescue the trapped pilgrims, but darkness disrupted to pull put the injured stuck in the mangled remains of the van because of the impact of the collision.
The rescuers from the police had a difficult time extricating them.
Police have registered a case and ordered an investigation to ascertain the cause of the crash.
Reports said police suspect the truck driver was driving recklessly, resulting in the accident.
All the injured were taken to Narwana Civil Hospital where doctors referred seven injured to the Medical College in Agroha after primary treatment.
Deadly road accidents are often caused due to overloading and reckless driving.
India universally has the highest number of road fatalities, at 250,000 deaths a year.
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