Bhopal: A group of 20 musicians from Gujarat was involved in a terrible road accident in Madhya Pradesh on Saturday.
Four musicians, including renowned singer Hardik Dave, were killed and seven others injured after their traveller bus collided head-on with a truck on National Highway 27 near Surwaya, in Shivpuri district.
The musicians — from Gujarat’s Mehsana and Surendranagar districts — were returning after performing at a ‘Shiv Katha’ event at Varanasi’s Kashi Vishwanath temple, Shivpuri SP Aman Singh Rathore said.
They were part of a team accompanying Gujarat’s religious storyteller Lankesh Babu, who returned to Gujarat by flight on Friday.
“The bus driver might have dozed off while crossing Surwaya, lost control of the vehicle, which flipped over the divider and collided with a truck in the opposite lane,” a police officer said.
Dave (40) died on the spot, while Raja Thakur (28), Ankit Thakur (17) and Rajpal Solanki (60) succumbed to injuries while being treated at a hospital.
The bodies of the deceased have been sent for post-mortem as police are investigating how exactly the mishap took place.
The Shiv Katha event in Varanasi was organised by a Vadodara resident. The team left from Gujarat’s Kadhi on August 8 and reached Varanasi on August 10. After performing in the event, they were on way back to Gujarat when tragedy struck.