Two 'kanwariyas' died while 14 others were injured after a truck hit a tractor-trolley in Madhya Pradesh’s Morena on Monday, a police official said. The incident took place at around 5 am on National Highway number 44, after which the villagers, angered by the incident, beat up the truck driver. They also blocked the arterial road for some time, the official added.
"The tractor-trolley was trailing the kanwariya procession to provide assistance. Two kanwariyas, Bharat Lal Sharma (37) and Ramnaresh Shrama (26) from Sihoniya area, died and 14 are injured. The injured have been hospitalised and are currently out of danger. The road block by the villagers has been cleared," Morena Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Anurag Thakur said.
A sizable number of personnel has been deployed at the site to ensure law and order, the additional SP informed.
'Kanwars' are pilgrims who carry water from the Ganga to perform 'jal abhishek' of Shivlings during the Hindu month of Shravan.
Accident in Haryana
In a tragic incident on Sunday in Haryana, a kanwariya lost his life and 13 others suffered burn injuries after their canter-truck came into contact with an overhead electricity wire, according to police reports.
The victims, all kanwariyas (devotees of Lord Shiva), were on their way to Haridwar in Uttarakhand to participate in the kawar yatra, an annual pilgrimage to collect holy water from the Ganga river.
The incident occurred in the Nawada area. Emergency services were called to the scene, and the injured were promptly admitted to a nearby hospital for treatment of burn injuries. Significantly, the authorities also informed that among the injured was Nitin, a 20-year-old resident of Tigaon. 'Due to the severity of his injuries, Nitin was referred to another hospital where doctors, unfortunately, declared him dead,' they added.
(With PTI inputs)
