21 killed in India as truck carrying marriage party falls off bridge

By Reuters   April 17, 2018 | 10:40 pm PT
The truck driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle, causing it to hit a divider and fall off the bridge.

At least 21 people were killed and over a dozen injured on Tuesday night as a mini truck carrying a marriage party fell off a bridge in India's central Sidhi district.

Platoon Commander, Home Guard City, Kaushal Prashad Dwivedi, said there were around 40-45 people in the truck and 14 were undergoing treatment at the district hospital in Sidhi.

The tragedy occurred when the truck driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle, causing it to hit a divider and fall off the bridge over the river Son. The truck, which was headed to a wedding in Sidhi, fell on a dry riverbed.

The impact of the fall left the truck mangled and killed many on the spot. Chief of Madhya Pradesh state, home to Sidhi, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, announced a compensation of 200,000 ($3,045) rupees for the kin of the deceased and 50,000 ($767) for the injured rupees.

India has the world's deadliest roads, with almost 150,000 people killed in accidents in 2015, the latest government data shows. At least 30 children were killed in northern Himachal Pradesh early this month when their school bus plunged off a mountain road.

 
 
go to top