Six people were killed and at least 35 others injured after a truck hit two buses parked on the side of a road on the Rewa-Satna border in Madhya Pradesh on Friday, officials said.
Eyewitnesses claimed that the accident took place around 9 pm and the people in the buses were returning from the 'Kol Mahakumbh' in Satna city.
Union Home Minister Amit Shah had addressed the event earlier in the day on the occasion of Shabri Mata Jayanti.
Quoting officials, Sidhi District Collector Saket Malviya said the truck coming from the Rewa side hit the buses from behind and 35 people suffered injuries.
Earlier, Additional Chief Secretary, Home, Rajesh Rajora had told PTI: "Six people were killed and 10 others injured as a speeding truck hit two stationary buses on the Rewa-Satna border." The injured are being taken to the Rewa Medical College, he said.
The eyewitnesses said that the truck hit the buses from behind and one of the buses overturned and fell into a ditch. The accident took place near the Mohania tunnel around 9 pm, they said.
The buses had stopped so that food packets could be given to passengers who were returning after attending the Mahakumbh, the eyewitnesses said.
Mr Rajora said top officials, including the collectors and the superintendents of police, of Sidhi and Rewa districts reached the spot and all passengers have been rescued.
Mr Malviya said that according to information given by officials, a tyre of the truck had burst following which the driver lost control of the vehicle and rammed the parked buses.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and state BJP president Vishnu Dutt Sharma rushed to the spot from Satna, the official said.
The chief minister left for Rewa Medical College from the spot after meeting officials and others to to meet the injured passengers, officials said.
Chief Minister Chouhan has directed officials to supervise the treatment of the injured persons and asked them to keep the Rewa Medical College and Sidhi District Hospital on alert, they said.
Former chief ministers Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh expressed grief over the accident.
Mr Nath in a tweet claimed that over 50 passengers were injured in the accident, while Mr Singh in a tweet demanded Rs 50 lakh compensation to the family of those who died in the accident and Rs 5 lakh to the injured persons.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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