Nine pilgrims, including six women, were killed and three were injured when the jeep carrying them collided head-on with a truck on the Agra-Mumbai highway near here, police said.
The incident took place between Lukwasa and Kulhadi villages under Badarwas police station area when victims were returning with the body of a family member -- who died in Ujjain due to a heat stroke -- to Gorakhpur after participating in the Simhastha Kumbh Mela, inspector PP Mudgal told PTI.
He said that six people died on the spot while three succumbed to injuries in a nearby hospital where they were admitted.
All the injured have been admitted to the district hospital, he added.
Badarwas police station inspector Mudgal said the ill-fated jeep was carrying 13 pilgrims in all.
One of the injured, Payal Singh, resident of Gorakhpur, UP, said they had come to take a holy dip in the Kshipra river during Kumbh where her father died due to a heat stroke.
She said they were returning with the body when the second tragedy struck them.
“We have registered a case and further investigation is on,” the inspector added.