21 dead after mini-truck carrying wedding guests falls off bridge in MP

Bhopal: At least 21 people were killed and 30 others injured when a mini-truck carrying them fell off a bridge over the Son River in Sidhi district of Madhya Pradesh on Tuesday night.

The group of people were headed for a wedding in Sidhi, about 570 km from Bhopal, when the driver reportedly lost control over the vehicle, hit the barrier of the bridge over Son River in Sidhi, and nosedived into the dry riverbed. The 100-foot fall instantly killed over 15 people while others suffered critical injuries.

The mini-truck fell off the Jogdaha bridge near Amelia in Bahri police station area of the district, a police official said.

Locals and passers-by informed the police and rescue teams rushed to the spot. The injured were admitted to the district hospital. The police say the casualties might go up as people were still trapped inside the vehicle. Efforts are on to safely bring them out, he said.

Both the district collector and the district police chief reached the spot and were seen supervising the rescue operation.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan announced an assistance of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the dead and Rs 50,000 each to the injured, the district collector said.

(With inputs from agencies)