Champawat: Five devotees from Uttar Pradesh died in Uttarakhand’s Champawat district on Thursday when a bus ran them over while they were sleeping on the roadside, police said.
Five more were injured in the accident and have been hospitalised, they said, adding that the victims had come to Champawat to attend the Maa Purnagiri fair held on the occasion of Chaitra Navratri in the Tanakpur area.
Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami expressed grief over the accident and cabinet minister Rekha Arya reached the hospital in Tanakpur to inquire about the condition of the injured.
According to police, the accident took place when the driver was reversing his bus in the morning when the wheels of the vehicle ran over the devotees sleeping on the roadside.
They said three people died on the spot Mayaram (32) and Badrinath (40) of Chittaura in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh and Amravati (26) of Bilsi in Budaun district.
A police official said Nemwati of Budaun’s Ujhani and Ramdehi of Bahraich died of injuries in the hospital.
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