At least 18 people have died and another five injured in a road accident in West Bengal state in east India.

“Deeply pained at reported death of 18 people and five others injured in Nadia District after the vehicle they were travelling in collided with (sic) a truck parked on the side of road,” West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Twitter.

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also took to Twitter to offer her condolences to families of the victims of the accident, which occurred on Saturday night.

“Government of West Bengal will extend every necessary assistance and support to the kin of the victims,” she said.

The passengers were heading to a nearby crematorium to attend a funeral, according to sources from the police station of Hanskhali, where the incident took place, local newspaper The Times of India reported.

Traffic accidents in India are common due to poor condition of roads, precarious state of some vehicles and lack of respect for traffic rules.

In February, 51 people were killed after a crowded coach plunged into a canal in the central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, one of the worst road accidents of its kind.

In 2019, a total of 151,113 people lost their lives and more than 451,000 others were injured in some 449,000 road accidents in India, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Road and Highway Transport. 

AAP

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