Forty-six labourers climbed into a single pickup in Dhar district, Madhya Pradesh, on Wednesday evening. Sixteen of them did not get home.
The crash happened between 8.30 and 9 pm. According to officials quoted by Rediff, the workers were returning from Baggad when the driver lost control near Chikliya crossing on the Indore-Ahmedabad National Highway. The vehicle overturned and collided with an SUV coming the other way. Another account, carried by Indian Witness, places the wreck near a roadside hotel under Tirla police station limits and says the pickup, travelling from Ghatabillod, swerved onto the wrong side of the road before it rolled. The two reports disagree on the mechanics. They agree on the load: women and children were among the passengers.
Twelve people were reported dead at first. Four more died in hospital, and officials confirmed the toll of 16 on Thursday. Indore Divisional Commissioner Dr Sudam P Khade spoke to reporters at an earlier stage, when the count stood at 15. “This is very unfortunate,” he said, adding that the 46 passengers were mostly labourers. Dhar district hospital’s civil surgeon, Dr Mukund Burman, later confirmed one further death.
Hospitals under strain
The injured were taken to Bhoj Hospital in Dhar, where the sudden arrival of so many patients overwhelmed emergency services and produced tense scenes on the premises. By Thursday, 13 injured people were being treated at the district hospital and six more at a private facility. Nine in critical condition had been referred to Indore.
Khade said a team of doctors had been deployed in Indore “so that there is no delay or problem in treatment.” The dead were cremated in mass funeral ceremonies.
Compensation and inquiry
Chief Minister Mohan Yadav announced ₹4 lakh for the family of each person killed, ₹1 lakh for the critically injured and ₹50,000 for those with minor injuries. The Prime Minister’s Office added ex-gratia payments from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund: ₹2 lakh to each bereaved family and ₹50,000 to each injured person. Narendra Modi expressed grief and wished the injured a speedy recovery.
Dhar’s in-charge minister, Kailash Vijaywargiya, told the local administration to make sure the injured receive proper treatment. Umang Singhar, the Leader of Opposition and a native of Dhar district, also expressed grief. Khade and Inspector General Anurag stayed at the scene to oversee relief work.
Tirla police have registered a case. The district administration has started a detailed investigation, and officials say they intend to find where things went wrong and act on it. Whether a pickup built to haul goods should have been carrying 46 people at all is the question the incident has pushed back into view, along with the wider matter of how labourers are moved in overcrowded vehicles.
Sources
- Dhar District Accident In Madhya Pradesh Kills 16 Labourers After Truck Overturns
- 16 Die In Dhar District Road Accident
