Three kanwariyas crushed under truck, seven injured

Three kanwariyas were killed and seven injured after they came under a speeding truck at a village, about 20 km from here on Hisar-Chandigarh road, police said on Tuesday (July 30).

A group of kanwariyas, who are Shiva devotees, were returning from Gangotri in Uttarakhand when the accident occurred at 1 am, they said. The kanwariyas, who were on motorcycles, were about to reach their homes in the village of Bichhpari when a truck hit them from the back, killing three of them on the spot, the police said.

The victims were identified as Rahul (18), Raj Singh (28), and Rohtash (21). The injured were admitted to a private hospital here, where the conditions of some of them were stated to be critical, the police said.

Police said that the truck driver fled from the spot after the incident. A case has been registered in this regard, they said. Kanwariyas visit Haridwar, Gaumukh, and Gangotri in Uttarakhand and Sultanganj in Bihar to fetch the holy waters of the Ganga during the auspicious Hindu month of Shravan.

This year, the kanwar yatra began on July 17.