Five people were killed and 11 others were injured on Monday after a truck allegedly ploughed into a wedding procession after allegedly overtaking from the wrong side in the Sultanpur area of Madhya Pradesh's Raisen district. According to details provided by a senior police official to news agency PTI, the procession had arrived from Anchalkheda in the state's Hoshangabad district.
Raisen Collector Arvind Dubey stated that the accident occurred at 10 pm near the Khamaria village. "Of the injured, the condition of five is serious. They have been shifted to Bhopal," PTI quoted the collector saying.
The Sultanpur police station in-charge Rajat Sarathe stated that the victims inlcuded the labourers who were carrying lights as part of the wedding procession. He further said that the truck driver fled the spot after the accident
The Raisen collector also stated that Madhya Pradesh CM Mohan Yadav announced a financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 to those who sustained injuries.
In another accident reported from the Raisen district this month, a driver and a cleaner of a gas tanker on Sunday were killed after their vehicle plunged into a gorge and caught fire. The accident occurred on the Bhopal-Jabalpur Highway which comes under the jurisdiction of the Sultanpur police station.
The police station in-charge Rajat Sarathe stated that the driver had lost control of the gas tanker, leading it to veer off the road and fall into the gorge. Subsequently, a fire broke out which engulfed the tanker before spreading to the nearby huts. Around five cattle were also killed due to the fire.