A pilgrimage turned tragic in Rajasthan’s Phalodi on Sunday evening when a tempo traveller carrying families from Jodhpur slammed into a parked trailer on the Bharatmala Highway, leaving fifteen people, most of them women and children, dead and several others injured.
Police said the accident occurred around 7 p.m. near Matoda village when the vehicle, returning from the Kolayat temple in Bikaner district, crashed into a stationary trailer parked on the roadside. The impact crushed the front portion of the traveller, trapping the passengers inside.
Rescue teams from the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), police, and local people worked for hours to pull victims from the mangled vehicle. The injured were taken to the Phalodi hospital, and those in critical condition were shifted to Jodhpur via a green corridor created by the district administration.
Officials confirmed that the victims belonged to the Mali community of Soorsagar in Jodhpur. Preliminary investigations indicate that the tempo traveller driver may have lost control while attempting to overtake another vehicle before hitting the trailer, which had reportedly been parked near a roadside dhaba without reflectors or warning lights.
Senior police and district officers rushed to the site, and the state government has announced financial assistance for the victims’ families.
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