Gwalior Sheetla Mata Temple Accident: Death Toll Rises To 14; Families Allege Police Negligence, Delay In Rescue-Search|VIDEO

Gwalior truck accident: The death toll in the truck accident near Sheetla Mata Temple in Madhya Pradesh's Gwalior rose to 14 on Sunday, with grieving families alleging police negligence and delayed rescue efforts as they gathered at the hospital and postmortem centre.

Families Allege Police Negligence

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 the police as Gwalior Superintendent of Police Dharmveer Singh visited the site.

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 o'clock incident, and the police came at 4 o'clock," she alleged, questioning the delay in the response.

'Victims were taken to hospital 2 hours late'

Another bereaved family member questioned why the victims were not taken to the hospital immediately after the accident.

"If the accident happened at 2:00, why did you bring him to the hospital at 4:00? 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.

"They were saying yesterday at the trauma centre that he was walking, so we sat there until 4 o'clock. We came home at 3 o'clock. We got the information at 3 o'clock. Then the police didn't call the house. A friend called and told us; that's when we came," the relative said.

'Cops did not let me search for my daughter'

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.

Speeding truck rams into temple wall

The accident occurred around 1.30 am on Sunday when a truck loaded with paddy, travelling from the Chhinor direction, reportedly lost control on a steep slope and crashed into devotees gathered near Sheetla Mata Temple. The truck allegedly broke through barricades and a police checkpoint before running over pilgrims and hitting the temple's outer wall and gate.

According to Gwalior Senior Superintendent of Police Dharmveer 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.

Earlier, the SSP had said that 12 people had died, while five to six patients had sustained critical injuries, including fractures. Other injured people were receiving treatment.

(Except for the headline, this article has not been edited by FPJ's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)