In the first incident, at least seven pilgrims from Kutch were killed when their bus skidded off the road.
In two separate major road accidents, at least 12 people from the state lost their lives on Sunday. In the first incident, at least seven pilgrims from Kutch were killed when their bus skidded off the road and landed in a drain near Jalalabad town in southwest Punjab.
Four passengers died on the spot, while three others died on their way to the hospital. Around 32 passengers were also injured in the accident which took place near Sukhera village. The injured have been admitted to Guru Gobind Singh Hospital at Faridkot.
According to police officials, the driver of the tourist bus dozed off and lost control of the bus early in the morning. The bus from Kutch (GJ 27 T 9922) was carrying 41 pilgrims of Shri Krishna Pranami Sangh. The bus was enroute Chandigarh when the incident occurred. Kamal Patel, the driver of the bus admitted to having dozed off while driving which led to the accident. The four passengers who died on the spot were identified as Shantaben, Kantaben, Ishwarbhai and Vijay Kumar.
In the other accident, seven tourists including five Gujaratis, lost their lives on the Idar-Khedbrahma highway on Sunday afternoon. A luxury bus of Gujarat Travels plunged 50 feet into a gorge outside Mathasur village near Idar, killing seven passengers and injuring 37.
The tourist bus (GJ 18 U 9554) was headed to the city from Mount Abu, carrying more than 50 passengers.
The bus left Mount Abu at 10 am and reached a small bridge over Vekari river near Idar town of Sabarkantha district in the afternoon.
According to the local police, the driver was unable to properly judge the turn and the bus nose-dived straight into the 50-foot-deep gorge just before the bridge.
With the impact of the head-on collision, six tourists died on the spot, while one died on the way to the hospital. The deceased include Premila Makwana, Bipin Vaghela, both residents of Ahmedabad, Jigna Mehta, a resident of Rajkot, Dhairya Kolve, a resident of Surat and Ripal Ghodasara, a resident of Jam Khambhaliya.
The two others who died in the accident were identified as Dr VM Raghvendra Rao from Bangalore and Dipak Raje from Pune. After the accident, both the driver and the cleaner fled the spot.
College student drowns at Somnath Anil Makwana, a 19-year-old student of HK College in the city drowned at Somnath beach on Sunday. Anil, along with five friends from the city, had gone for a picnic to Somnath temple. The group visited the temple and then headed towards the beach early in the morning. A huge tidal wave swept all of them while they were walking along the shallow waters on the beach.
Five of Anil's friends, all residents of Gayatrinagar in Gota, were rescued by the others present at the beach, while Anil was swept so far away by the wave that he could not be rescued. His body had not been found yet, even as the search operation is still on.
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