JODHPUR/JAISALMER: At least 15 pilgrims, including four children and 10 women, were killed and two others injured when a tempo traveller collided with a stationary trailer truck near Matoda village in Phalodi district on Sunday evening. The injured were rushed to a hospital in Jodhpur via a green corridor.
Phalodi district collector Shweta Chouhan confirmed 15 deaths on the spot. Apart from the women and children, the tempo driver also died on the spot, she said.
Matoda SHO Amnaram said the ill-fated tempo was carrying pilgrims from the Mali community, belonging to the Soorsagar area of Jodhpur, who had gone on a pilgrimage to Kolayat in Bikaner district, “They were returning to Jodhpur. Near Matoda on the Bharatmala Highway, the speeding tempo rammed into a stationary trailer at about 7pm,” he said, adding that the exact cause of the accident is not known yet.
Eyewitness Mahipal Saran said trucks were often haphazardly parked along the route after small roadside eateries sprung up along the Bharatmala Highway. The tempo traveller was attempting to overtake another truck when it collided with the stationary trailer parked in front of a dhaba.
