At least 18 people were killed in eastern India on Tuesday after a bus ferrying Hindu pilgrims collided with a truck loaded with cooking gas cylinders, officials said.
Visuals from the site in Jharkhand state showed the mangled wreckage of the bus, with its rear portion almost entirely burnt.
Local lawmaker Nishikant Dubey said the pilgrims were travelling to a Hindu shrine to celebrate the sacred month of Shravan, coinciding with the onset of the monsoons in the subcontinent.
“18 devotees lost their lives due to a bus and truck accident,” Dubey said on social media.
मेरे लोकसभा के देवघर में श्रावण मास में कांवर यात्रा के दौरान बस और ट्रक के दुर्घटनाग्रस्त होने के कारण 18 श्रद्धालुओं की मौत हो गई है । बाबा बैद्यनाथ जी उनके परिजनों को दुख सहने की शक्ति प्रदान करें
— Dr Nishikant Dubey (@nishikant_dubey) July 29, 2025
The pilgrims were carrying holy water from the Ganges to offer to the Hindu god of destruction, Lord Shiva.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed his “deepest condolences to the families of the devotees who lost their lives”.
झारखंड के देवघर में हुई सड़क दुर्घटना अत्यंत दुखद है। इसमें जिन श्रद्धालुओं को अपनी जान गंवानी पड़ी है, उनके परिजनों के प्रति मेरी गहरी शोक-संवेदनाएं। ईश्वर उन्हें इस पीड़ा को सहने की शक्ति दे। इसके साथ ही मैं सभी घायलों के जल्द से जल्द स्वस्थ होने की कामना करता हूं: PM…
— PMO India (@PMOIndia) July 29, 2025
“The road accident in Jharkhand’s Deoghar is extremely tragic,” his office said on social media.
Tens of thousands of people die in road accidents in India every year, according to official data.
More than 172,000 died in road crashes in 2023, Indian transport minister Nitin Gadkari told parliament.
Last November, a bus plunged into a deep Himalayan ravine in the northern state of Uttarakhand, killing at least 36 passengers and injuring several others.
