At least 12 pilgrims, including five women, were killed and 22 others were left injured, when a container truck hit a parked bus on a highway near Aurangabad district in Bihar on Tuesday morning.
Of the 22, the severely injured have been taken to Gaya's Magadh Medical College and Hospital, while others were admitted to Sadar hospital, The Hindu reported.
The accident took place on the New Delhi-Kolkata National Highway 2 at around 3 am. The truck driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle and rammed into the bus parked at the roadside. The driver has been missing since the accident took place.
Due to the collision, 34 people sleeping in front of the bus were run over , while those sleeping inside the bus also faced the impact. 12 people inside the bus succumbed to death.
The 40 pilgrims were devotees of Lord Shiva, who were travelling back to their homes in Dehri, a city in Bihar's Rohtas district from the Hindu pilgrimage city of Deogarh. The pilgrims had reportedly taken a halt there to rest for the night before carrying on their journey to Dehri.
A compensation of ₹ 2.5 lakh has been promised by the authorities concerned, Zee News reported.
