Six people were killed and 27 others were injured in a mishap near Bagharia village on Sirhind-Patiala road on Sunday morning when a minbus collided with a truck.
According to information, when the Swaraj Mazda minibus carrying 35 people of a Chandigarh-based catering company, which was on its way from Bathinda to Saidpura in Dera Bassi, reached near Bagharia village, it collided with a truck.
Minibus driver Charanjit Singh, 38, and other occupants of the vehicle -- Fateh Chand of Delhi, Robert of Assam, Sahib Singh of MP and one Shekhar -- were killed on the spot.
Truck driver Kamaljit Singh, who was seriously injured, succumbed to his injuries at Rajindra hospital, Patiala. All injured were taken to Rajindra hospital.
The bodies of all the deceased except the truck driver were taken to civil hospital, Fatehgarh Sahib, for post-mortem. All occupants of the minibus were caterers who had gone to serve a marriage party in Bathinda on Saturday and were returning from there.
Ambulance 108 and highway patrol officials reached the site and started rescue operations. Fatehgarh Sahib SSP Gurmeet Singh Chohan and other senior officers also reached the spot.
Mulepur SHO Ajab Singh said that on the statement of catering manager Pawan Bansal, who was also in the minibus, the Mulepur police have registered a case against truck driver Kamaljit Singh, a resident of Cheeka, under sections 279, 337, 427 and 304-A of the IPC.
{{/usCountry}}Mulepur SHO Ajab Singh said that on the statement of catering manager Pawan Bansal, who was also in the minibus, the Mulepur police have registered a case against truck driver Kamaljit Singh, a resident of Cheeka, under sections 279, 337, 427 and 304-A of the IPC.
{{/usCountry}}According to Bansal, he, along with around 100 people in three minibuses, had gone to Bathinda to serve a marriage party. Around 4 am on Sunday, they boarded the buses on their return journey.
Though the health department had made arrangements for conducting the post-mortem examination of all the deceased at the civil hospital, Fatehgarh Sahib, the post-mortem could not be conducted on Sunday.
Dr Kuldeep Singh of the civil hospital said that after receiving information about the mishap they had made all arrangements to conduct the post-mortem, which would be held on Monday.
Meanwhile, chief minister Parkash Singh Badal and deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal have expressed grief over the incident. According to a spokesperson of the district public relations department, the state government has announced Rs 1 lakh for the relatives of the deceased and free treatment for all the injured.