Eleven killed in Gujarat road mishap

BHUJ: Eleven people, including three women and as many children, died in a road accident near here in Gujarat's Kutch district Monday, police said.

Six others were injured in the mishap which took place on the Bhuj-Nakhatrana highway near Mankuwa village in Bhuj taluka when a speeding truck hit an autorickshaw and a motorcycle while trying to overtake another vehicle, a police official said.

The victims, most of them daily wage workers originally hailing from neighbouring Madhya Pradesh, were returning to their homes in Bhuj after a temple visit, he said.

"While the deceased were returning to Bhuj after visiting a temple in Mata No Madh near Lakhpat, the truck was going towards Lakhpat," said Inspector Y B Rana of Mankuwa police station.

"Five men, three women and three children died and six others were injured. All of them were travelling in the autorickshaw and the motorcycle. They are daily wagers from Madhya Pradesh.

"The driver of the truck fled the spot and efforts are on to nab him," Rana said.

The truck has been seized, the inspector said.

The autorickshaw hit by the truck was a modified vehicle known in local parlance as `chakda'.

Widely used for public transportation in Kutch and Saurashtra regions of Gujarat, the tri-motorcycle-like vehicle can carry more than a dozen people.

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