Bihar: 2 West Bengal pilgrims killed as sand truck collides with tourist bus

The bus, packed with 55 pilgrims, was on a religious tour through northern India. Of the 41 injured, 14 are in critical condition

Two persons were killed and 41 others were injured after a speeding sand truck rammed into a tourist bus on the GT Road (NH-19) near Chilbili village under the Kudra police station limits of Bihar’s Kaimur district on Monday.

Representational image.

The bus, packed with 55 pilgrims from West Bengal, was on a religious tour through northern India and was headed to Varanasi, the police said. Of the 41 injured, 14 are in critical condition.

The bus opened from Kolkata with 55 pilgrims, most of them belonging to North 24 Pargana district, was going to religious tour in northern India and was approaching to Varanasi, police said.

The incident took place when the sand truck coming from the opposite direction collided with the bus that was parked at a roadside eatery around 7 am on the left lane of the highway.

The bus was dragged around 200 metres because of the impact of the collision, and the bus driver, identified as Jagdish Debsingha, reportedly died on the spot.

NHAI officials rushed to the site and separated the bus and the truck using a crane. The injured were taken to a primary health center and the doctors referred 14 of them to a bigger hospital after assessing their condition.

One pilgrim, identified as Divyanshu died on the way to Varanasi.

The police have informed the families of the deceased and the injured about the incident, SP Rakesh Kumar said.