Shahjahanpur: A tragic accident claimed the lives of twelve pilgrims, including three children and four women, when a gravel-laden dumper truck collided with and overturned onto a stationary bus late on Saturday night. The incident occurred around 11:00-11:30 pm in the Khutar area on the Gola state highway, near a roadside eatery in Hajiyapur village in Shahjahanpur District of Uttar Pradesh.

The bus, carrying around 50 passengers, was en route to the Purnagiri temple in Champawat district, Uttarakhand. Most of the passengers had disembarked for a break when the speeding truck crashed into the bus. Twenty-five people were still on board at the time of the collision.

Shahjahanpur Superintendent of Police Ashok Kumar Meena confirmed that eleven individuals died on the spot, while one succumbed to injuries at Shahjahanpur Medical College. The victims hailed from Jatha village in Sindhauli tehsil, Sitapur district.

Among the deceased were minors Sudhanshu (7), Aditya (8), and Ajeet (14), along with women Suman Devi (36), Rohini (20), Chutaki (50), Seema (30), Sonwati (45), Brinda (50), and men Ram Gopal (48), Shiv Shankar (48), and Pramod (30). Their bodies have been sent for postmortem examinations.

At least nine other passengers sustained injuries in the accident. Eyewitness Pankaj Kumar reported that the truck was speeding when it struck the bus, which had stopped outside the eatery. The investigation into the exact cause of the crash is ongoing.