A tragic accident took place between an Eicher tempo and a trailer on the Vaghodia Bridge on the national highway near Vadodara at 3 am on Wednesday. On the way from Surat to Pavagadh Darshan, the tempo rammed into the back of the trailer.
All 27 people trapped in the tempo were evacuated by a fire brigade and moved to Sayaji Hospital. However, the crash killed 11 of them, of which, three were women and three others were children. The other 16 individuals have been seriously injured.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted about the accident, saying, “Saddened by the accident in Vadodara. My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones. Praying that the injured recover soon. The administration is providing all possible assistance at the site of the accident.” Union Home Minister Amit Shah and President Ram Nath Kovind too expressed grief.
The accident caused a traffic jam on the entire highway. The police as well as the fire brigade rushed to the spot after the accident and evacuated the people trapped in the vehicle and shifted them to Sayaji Hospital. Ranjan Aiyar, superintendent of Sayaji Hospital in Vadodara, said that nine people died on the spot in the accident and two others succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment.
As soon as the incident was reported, officials, including the Collector and SDM, rushed to the hospital and visited the injured. Vadodara BJP president Vijay Shah and Mayor Jigisha Seth also reached the postmortem room of Sayaji Hospital and paid tribute to the 11 deceased. Chief Minister Vijay Rupani also tweeted his condolences and said, “Saddened by the loss of lives due to a road accident near Vadodara. Instructed officials to do needful. May those who have been injured recover at the earliest. I pray for the departed souls.”
The family members of the injured and the deceased have said that these people were natives of Rajula and Bhavnagar in Mahuva taluka and nearby villages and had been living in Surat for the past 20 years. The individuals were employed in the diamond and textile industries.