Rajkot: Tragedy struck a marriage party when 30 people, including the bridegroom’s parents, sister and grandmother, died after the truck they were travelling in plunged into a water drain from a bridge near Ranghola village, 54 km from Bhavnagar city, on Tuesday.
The driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to overtake a van on a partially constructed bridge at around 6:30am. The truck hit the bridge railing and fell on a concrete slab 30 feet below and overturned. Most of the people died under the weight of the truck. The victims include 17 men, 12 women and one child. At least 45 others were injured and eight of them are said to be critical. The accident was so gruesome that 26 died on the spot and special crane had to be called to remove people from beneath the truck.
The victims were family members and relatives of groom Vijay Vaghela from Anida village in Sihore taluka and were going to Tatam near Gadhdha for his wedding. Sources said that Vijay had left ahead of them in another car and reached Tatam. His parents Pravin Vaghela and Prabha, sister Jasu and grandmother Jini are among the dead.
Fire brigade and ambulance from Sihore and Botad were rushed to the spot along with five teams of 108 emergency service. The injured were rushed to Sir T hospital in Bhavnagar where four people succumbed to their injuries.
Sejal Vaghela, the groom’s cousin sister who is under treatment in Bhavnagar hospital, said, “We all were very excited for the wedding. We were singing songs and playing music. Suddenly, I felt a jerk and the truck fell off the bridge.”
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed grief over the the accident and said it was “extremely unfortunate and anguishing”. “My condolences to all those who lost their loved ones due to an accident near Ranghola in Gujarat. The accident was extremely unfortunate and anguishing. May those who have been injured recover at the earliest,” he was quoted as saying in a tweet by the Prime Minister's Office.
Chief minister Vijay Rupani announced an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of every deceased from the CM's Relief Fund and ordered an inquiry into the accident.
The driver lost control of the truck while trying to overtake a van on a partially constructed bridge, hit the... Read More
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