Jalgaon mishap: 15, including 3 minors, killed as truck falls into roadside pit

PM Narendra Modi and Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray have each announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the family of each of the deceased.

Fifteen labourers died and five others sustained injuries when the truck they were travelling in fell in a roadside pit in Maharashtra’s Jalgaon district late on Sunday night. The deceased included three minors, aged three, five and 15 years.

An FIR has been registered in the case against the truck driver who was also injured.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray have each announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the family of each of the deceased.

The accident took place in Kingaon village of Yawal tehsil in Jalgaon when the vehicle turned turtle and fell in the pit. The vehicle, laden with papayas, was coming from Dhule and reached Kingaon around 1 am when the mishap took place. After local residents alerted police and civic officials, a JCB was used to pull the truck out of the pit, an officer said.

An officer from Yawal police station under whose jurisdiction the incident took place said, “It appears that the truck had developed some technical snag due to which the accident took place. We have sought a report from the RTO which will clarify what went wrong.”

The labourers belonged to Abhoda, Vivra, Kerhala villages and Raver tehsil in Jalgaon, the official added. The injured were rushed to Jalgaon civil hospital where two of them are said to be in serious condition.

The officer added that an FIR has been registered against the truck driver under Section 304-II (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the IPC. “We are also inquiring if the businessman for whom the deceased persons were working was responsible in any way,” the officer added.

PM Modi tweeted, “Heart-wrenching truck accident in Jalgaon, Maharashtra. Condolences to the bereaved families. May the injured recover at the earliest.”

The PM has approved an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of the labourers who were killed and Rs 50,000 for those who have sustained serious injuries.

Thackeray also tweeted that Rs 2 lakh compensation will be provided to the families of those died in the accident.

President Ram Nath Kovind tweeted, “Deeply distressed to learn that a truck carrying labourers, women and children overturned near Jalgaon in Maharashtra resulting in deaths of many. My thoughts and prayers are with their families and wish an early recovery for the injured.”

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