At least 12 people were killed and dozens of others injured when a truck hit devotees near a temple in India’s central Madhya Pradesh state, a police official said early Sunday.
The accident occurred in Gwalior when a truck loaded with paddy lost control on a steep road and crashed into the outer wall and gate of the Sheetla Mata Temple, senior police official Dharmveer Singh said.
He said 39 people were taken to a hospital, of whom 12 died. Ruchika Chauhan, a local civil official, said an investigation was underway to determine the cause of the accident.
A day earlier, at least 17 people were killed and several others injured in a stampede at a religious festival in north Kolkata in India, NDTV reported.
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Durga Puja, the biggest annual festival of Hindus in India’s eastern state of West Bengal, draws thousands of devotees to temporary structures known as pandals, which house idols of the goddess Durga.
A police statement said the stampede occurred in the evening due to “heavy crowds of pandal hoppers amid rainfall.” All injured persons were rescued and shifted to hospital.
Besides the dead, 25 people were injured, according to West Bengal Chief Minister Suvendu Adhikari.
According to eyewitnesses, many festivalgoers lost consciousness, and some were taken to the hospital on motorcycles. One witness said that the entrance to and exit from the pavilion were very narrow and that there was no lighting there.
