CHANDIGARH: Four people, including two women from Balotra in Rajasthan, were killed and seven others injured in a road accident on the Bathinda-Dabwali National Highway, also known as the Amritsar-Jamnagar Highway.
The group was travelling to the Golden Temple in Amritsar and the Amarnath shrine in Jammu and Kashmir to pay obeisance.
Sources said the accident occurred early on Wednesday morning when the Tempo Traveller they were travelling in collided with a truck parked on the roadside near Gurusar Sainewala and Jodhpur Romana villages on the Bathinda-Dabwali National Highway. The impact of the collision was so severe that the Tempo Traveller was completely mangled.
Sandeep Singh, a volunteer with the Sahara Jan Seva Welfare Society, a non-governmental organisation (NGO), said he received a phone call about the accident and immediately rushed to the spot. He shifted the injured and transported the bodies to hospitals in three ambulances. Three bodies were taken to the Civil Hospital in Bathinda, while one was taken to AIIMS Bathinda.
The deceased have been identified as Mahinder Kumar, his wife Manisha, and Pankaj and his wife Dimple. Their identities were established after police checked their Aadhaar cards, which showed they were residents of Balotra in Rajasthan.
The police have initiated an investigation to ascertain the exact cause of the accident.