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A devastating road accident occurred late Friday night near the Maha Kumbh Mela in Prayagraj, claiming the lives of 10 devotees and injuring 19 others. The accident took place on the Prayagraj-Mirzapur highway when a Bolero SUV carrying pilgrims from Chhattisgarh collided head-on with a bus. The victims were on their way to the sacred event at the Sangam for the Maha Kumbh bath.
The accident caused instant deaths of all 10 occupants of the Bolero who were Korba residents, Chhattisgarh. They were on their way to Prayagraj for the religious congregation. The bus carrying devotees of Madhya Pradesh’s Rajgarh district was also on its way to Varanasi after participating in the Maha Kumbh rituals at the Sangam.
The passengers injured in the bus were taken to the nearby hospital for treatment as soon as possible. Their situation is closely watched.
The Bolero driver, in a report, lost control of the car, presumably because he was drowsy, resulting in the fatal accident. The accident resulted in serious damage to the Bolero, and the bodies of the dead were retrieved using JCB machines by local authorities. The passengers in the bus who were injured are said to have been asleep at the time of the collision, with one of the survivors remembering the shock of the impact.
The identities of the dead were established through identification documents recovered at the site, such as Aadhar cards and mobile phones. The victims were Ishwari Prasad Jaiswal, Santosh Soni, Bhagirathi Jaiswal, Somnath, Ajay Banajare, Saurabh Kumar Soni, Ganga Das Verma, Shiva Rajput, Deepak Verma, and Raju Sahu. The local police have notified the families of the dead, who have already started their journey to Prayagraj.
The horrific accident has evoked condolences from all over the nation. President Droupadi Murmu was saddened by the loss of lives and sent her deepest condolences to the victims’ families and prayed for the early recovery of the injured. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has also mourned the incident, directing local officials to speed up rescue and relief efforts.
This incident is the latest in a chain of mishaps that have been occurring throughout the current Maha Kumbh Mela, which started on January 13 and will last until February 26. Not long ago, a boat collision at the Sangam resulted in two deaths, further emphasizing the dangers of the huge crowds of pilgrims present at the event.
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