Families of victims are alleging police negligence after an out-of-control truck crashed into Hindu devotees near Gwalior's Sheetla Mata Temple in India's Madhya Pradesh, killing at least 14.
Grieving relatives alleged delayed rescue efforts as they gathered at the hospital and postmortem centre. The families accused the police of failing to reach the accident site in time, delaying the transportation of victims to the hospital and preventing relatives from searching for their missing family members.
Tensions reportedly escalated at the postmortem centre, where some bereaved family members confronted authorities as Gwalior Superintendent of Police Dharmveer Singh visited the site.
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Speaking to ANI, a woman whose son was injured in the accident alleged that the police prevented her from taking him for treatment herself and later brought him back in an ambulance.
"My son would have been 19 years old. The police didn't come to Sheetla for four hours, not even for my little boy. It was a 12 [midnight] incident, and the police came at 4am," she alleged, questioning the delay in the response.
Another bereaved family member questioned why the victims were not taken to the hospital immediately after the accident.
"If the accident happened at 2am, why did you bring him to the hospital at 4am? You should have brought him right away, and the child's life was lost. And the administration is telling me to sign," the family member said.
The family member also alleged that some victims who were initially believed to be alive had died, expressing anger over the circumstances surrounding their treatment and the communication provided to their relatives.
She alleged that the family received information about the victim's death only through a friend and not from the police.
A woman whose daughter was missing also accused the police of preventing the family from searching for her.
"Why didn't the cops let us search? My daughter is looking for her, but they won't let her go inside. The cops refused, saying she wasn't in there. Isn't it your duty to search for someone if they go missing? But no, they didn't search, and they didn't let my daughter search either. I want my child back," she told ANI.
According to police, the accident reportedly occurred around 1.30 am on Sunday when a truck loaded with paddy reportedly lost control on a steep slope and crashed into devotees gathered near Sheetla Mata Temple.
The truck broke through barricades and a police checkpoint before running over pilgrims and hitting the temple's outer wall and gate.
According to Singh, 39 people were taken to hospital following the accident, including two police personnel who were on duty at the spot. The two policemen were also injured and are undergoing treatment.
Gwalior Collector Ruchika Chauhan said that an investigation was underway to determine how the truck managed to cross the barricades and police checkpoint set up on the road.