GANDHINAGAR: At least 14 migrant labourers from Rajasthan, including a child sleeping near a road were crushed to death and six others injured on Tuesday morning by a speeding dumper truck in Gujarat’s Surat, police said.
The incident happened when the dumper truck lost control and ran over some 20 sugarcane farm labourers. Twelve were killed on the spot, two succumbed later and six others were being treated in a hospital.
The accident happened near the Kosamba village, 60 km from Surat.
All the victims hailed from Kushalgarh in Rajasthan, police said.
“A truck dumper ran over the migrant sugarcane workers on the Kim-Mandvi road shortly after midnight, after first hitting a tractor filled with sugarcane. Twelve out of them died on the spot, while two succumbed before they reached the hospital. There were seven male, six females and one child among the victims,” said Rajkumar Pandyan, Surat Range Inspector General of Police.
The injured were being treated in the Smimer hospital in Surat, according to sources. The driver and the cleaner were also injured and have been admitted in the hospital.
According to the truck driver, the accident happened after his steering-wheel jammed and he lost control.
Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani expressed grief over the tragedy and announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the victims.