Dausa Accident: On Tuesday morning, 11 devotees lost their lives in a horrific road accident when a pickup van crashed into a stationary truck on the Agra-Jaipur National Highway in Dausa district, Rajasthan. There were seven children in the pickup truck. They were en route to a temple to offer prayers when the crash occurred.
The scene of the accident
According to police, the crash occurred in the Ramgarh Pachwara area. The pickup truck, which was carrying approximately 20 passengers, was headed to Sikandra town for a ritual offering at a local temple when the pickup truck rammed into the back of a truck parked by the shoulder of the highway at around 3:30 am.
Witnesses said it seemed that the driver of the pickup truck had lost control of the vehicle, either due to drowsiness or due to poor visibility at night. The impact resulted in some of the passengers dying on the spot. Many of the other passengers were severely injured.
Casualties and Injured
Among the deceased were seven children, aged 4 to 15 years, alongside four adults, all from the same expanded family from Alwar district, with eight other injured people taken to Dausa District Hospital, from where they were sent to Jaipur for medicine. Police reported that most of the travellers were relatives and neighbours travelling together for the religious trip; the sudden loss meant all the villagers were mourning.
Rescue
In the early morning, the loud crash woke local people, who rushed to help before police and emergency teams arrived. The rescue opened the crashed vehicle to help passengers trapped inside. Ambulances and police vans rushed the injured to hospitals, all within one hour after the accident. Three senior police officers were at the highway lending their support, including Dausa Superintendent of Police Anil Kumar, and cleared the highway for traffic to resume.
Official Statements
Rajasthan Chief Minister Bhajan Lal Sharma extended condolences to the victims’ families and announced compensation for those affected. He directed district administration officials to take all necessary steps to provide proper medical treatment for those injured.
Union Minister of State and Dausa MP Jaskaur Meena also offered his condolences, calling the event a “heart-wrenching tragedy” and encouraging authorities to do everything possible to investigate the incident properly.
Call for Road Safety
The accident has once again raised the issue of road safety on Rajasthan’s highways, particularly around the issue of parked heavy vehicles without proper warning signs on the road and the dangers of poor night travel involving overloaded passenger vehicles. Authorities will be expected to assess road safety and to improve policing around accident hotspots.
Police have filed a case and commenced their investigation to find out if the truck driver or the pickup van driver is negligent in the deadly incident.
