Gwalior (MP), Oct 18 Screams shattered the stillness of the night as a speeding truck hurtled down a slope towards the Sheetla Mata temple in Madhya Pradesh’s Gwalior, crushing devotees waiting to catch a glimpse of the goddess and leaving behind a trail of devastation in the small hours of Sunday.
Eyewitnesses described the Punjab-registered vehicle coming in “like a storm” through the no-entry zone near the shrine, triggering chaos within seconds.
As many as 14 people were killed and 28 injured in the tragedy that occurred around 1.30 am outside the Sheetla Mata temple near a slope on Chinor Road. The truck crashed into several devotees and roadside shops before hitting the temple’s entrance gate and bringing down a wall.
Located about 20 km from the district headquarters, the 125-year-old shrine attracts lakhs of devotees during Navratri, many of whom walk barefoot to offer prayers.
The scale of the devastation has left eyewitnesses questioning how a heavy commercial vehicle managed to reach the crowded shrine, given that vehicle movement is strictly restricted during the festival, with a designated parking facility set up nearly a kilometre away to prevent congestion.
Saurabh, a devotee present near the spot, recalled the horror as the vehicle careened down the slope before anyone could react.
“The road near the temple was on a slope, and the truck came speeding down it. Nobody could understand what had happened. We realised the severity only when we heard people screaming,” he said.
While Saurabh managed to move ahead, his brother was trapped.
Several others caught under the truck frantically struggled to pull themselves out, and some managed to do so, he said.
The ordeal dragged on as efforts were made to move the paddy-laden truck.
Five cranes were eventually deployed around 4 am to lift the overturned vehicle, Saurabh said, adding that police also arrived around the same time to assist in shifting the dead and injured to nearby hospitals.
For some families, however, the nightmare did not end with the rescue operation.
Kiran, who lost her 19-year-old son, alleged that the boy was still breathing after the accident, but police delayed shifting him to a private hospital, and the delay in transporting him to a government hospital ultimately cost him his life.
Gajendra Prajapati, who runs a shop selling puja paraphernalia near the shrine, said the impact was so sudden and violent that the immediate surroundings were engulfed in thick smoke and dust.
Angered by the accident, eyewitnesses demanded a thorough probe into how the truck reached the temple area despite restrictions on vehicular movement, calling for strict action against those responsible for the safety failure.
Explaining the sequence of events, Gwalior Collector Ruchika Chouhan said the truck had crashed through police barricades and barreled towards the temple grounds at high speed.
Two police personnel were also injured while attempting to stop the vehicle, she said, adding that the Regional Transport Office (RTO) has been directed to examine the truck.
The Madhya Pradesh government has announced an ex-gratia assistance of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased, Rs 2 lakh for those seriously injured, and Rs 50,000 for persons sustaining minor injuries, officials said.
(PTI News)
