Varanasi: At least 11 members of a marriage party were injured when a speeding bus rammed their jeep in the Chilakhar area under the limits of Gadwar police station on Friday night.
The injured persons were taken to the district hospital, said Ballia district magistrate Praveen Kumar Lakshkar and SP Vikrant Veer, adding that their condition was stable, though two of them were referred to the trauma centre of BHU in Varanasi for better care. A team led by chief medical superintendent was monitoring the situation.
On Friday morning, Kamlesh Gond, resident of Singhpur village in Fefna area, went to Shrinath Baba temple in the Rasra area with his baraat. After the marriage, Kamlesh returned home with his new bride in a car, while his 16 family members and relatives, including women and children, boarded a jeep. Before reaching Chilakhar, the jeep collided head-on with a speeding bus coming from the Fefna side at Sanwara Chatti. The collision left the jeep completely destroyed. Those injured seriously were Parvati Devi (22), Subhavati Devi (29), wife of Jawahir Gond, Shubhavati Devi (30), Shobha (25), Jitendra Kumar (35) from Chitbadagaon, Ayansh (4), Rishikesh (2), Shanti Devi (35) from Sobandha, Ramawati (50), Neha (22), Kusum (26), Ruby (22), Vimalavati (60), Gulab Devi (60), Kajal (26) and Ritika (4).
The noise of the collision attracted a crowd, when informed police and 108 emergency services. An ambulance transported the injured to Chilakhar CHC for treatment. The accident caused a traffic jam on the main road, with long queues of vehicles on both sides.