Pickup vehicle runs into wedding procession; one dead, 30 injured

Khargone : A wedding celebration in Maheshwar turned into tragedy when a pickup vehicle, which was part of the wedding procession, suddenly moved forward and ran over several dancing baratis, leaving one person dead and 30 injured.SDOP Mandleshwar Shweta Shukla told TOI that the incident occurred when the wedding procession had almost reached the bride's house at Gujar Mohan village."On the basis of preliminary findings, it appears that the pickup vehicle was stationary as the driver had reportedly stepped out to join the celebrations. At that time, a few children were seated inside the vehicle's cabin. It is suspected that one of them may have turned the ignition key, causing the vehicle to move uncontrollably. The speeding vehicle ran over several people dancing in the procession, creating panic and chaos, It eventually crashed into a tree and a few two-wheelers and overturned. The injured were immediately rushed to government hospitals in Maheshwar and Mandleshwar and four critically injured ones were referred to district hospital," the SDOP said.Among the seriously injured was 32-year-old Rekha, sister of the groom, who later succumbed to injuries during treatment. The groom, Rakesh, also sustained injuries to his waist.Eyewitnesses, including local residents, said that the procession had arrived from Sajni Pura Faliya of Gujar Mohan village, about 3 km away, around noon on Friday. Around 150 people were part of the procession.Nine injured were taken to Mandleshwar hospital, while 21 were admitted to Maheshwar government hospital, said SDOP. A case was registered.