Subhechcha Ganguly 
In a tragic road accident in Jharkhand’s Deoghar district, at least 18 kanwariyas were killed and several others injured when the bus they were travelling in collided with a truck carrying cooking gas cylinders. The accident occurred around 4:30 a.m. near the Jamuniya forest, under the Mohanpur Police Station limits.
The victims were devotees of Lord Shiva, undertaking the Kanwar Yatra during the holy month of Shravan. According to officials, the pilgrims were en route to the Basukinath temple when the 32-seater bus collided head-on with the truck.
Godda MP Nishikant Dubey confirmed the death toll in a social media post, saying, “In my Lok Sabha constituency of Deoghar, 18 devotees lost their lives in a tragic accident involving a bus and a truck during the Kanwar Yatra. May Baba Baidyanath give strength to their families to bear this grief.”
Inspector General (Dumka Zone) Shailendra Kumar Sinha had earlier reported five deaths, cautioning that the toll could rise due to the critical condition of many of the injured.
Local authorities and emergency teams rushed to the scene for rescue and relief operations. The incident has cast a shadow over the annual pilgrimage, which draws thousands of Shiva devotees from across the country.
