Gwalior: Police are investigating whether a truck driver was under the influence of alcohol or had followed a shortcut suggested by Google Maps before his vehicle crashed into a crowd of devotees near a temple in Madhya Pradesh. At least 15 people were killed and more than 25 injured when the speeding truck ploughed into worshippers outside the 125-year-old Sheetla Mata temple on Sunday.
According to the police, two paddy-laden trucks, which were allegedly overloaded, travelled about seven kilometres on a road where heavy vehicles were prohibited before one of them went out of control near the shrine. The driver, identified as 40-year-old Delhi resident Bilbagh Singh, was arrested hours after fleeing the crash site. He was found hiding near the shrine in a state of shock, according to local law enforcement.
Authorities have collected a blood sample from the driver to determine if he was under the influence of alcohol when the truck entered the restricted road and struck devotees waiting for darshan. Investigators are also examining whether the driver had relied on a navigation shortcut provided by Google Maps that directed the heavy vehicle toward the temple area.
Locals reported that the two trucks, which were travelling from Bhitarwar towards Punjab, bypassed the main highway and took the Chinaur-Amrol route after the drivers became lost on unfamiliar rural roads. Residents near Amrol stated they had warned the drivers that the route was closed to heavy transport, and noted that they could smell alcohol on the drivers' breath.
Despite a designated police checkpoint along the Chinaur route, both trucks passed through unhindered toward the shrine, where an estimated one lakh devotees had gathered for Ashtami celebrations. As the road narrowed near a steep incline, one truck stopped while the other sped down the slope out of control, destroying roadside stalls and running over devotees before crashing into the temple entrance gate.
The impact severely damaged a section of the structure and resulted in 15 fatalities, including five teenagers and two women. Residents have since raised pressing questions regarding how the heavy vehicles managed to cross police checkpoints and reach the densely crowded temple despite existing traffic restrictions.