16 killed as mini bus, jeep collide on Jodhpur-jaisalmer highway
JODHPUR: At least 16 people were killed and five others seriously injured after a mini bus and a Bolero jeep collided on Friday afternoon near Agolai village on the Jodhpur-jaisalmer highway, police said.
Police and administrative officials rushed to the spot; local public representatives also reached the accident site.
A large crowd gathered at the accident spot and villagers helped the officials in removing bodies and taking the injured to ambulances.
Superintendent of Police (Rural) Rahul Barhath said that according to preliminary investigation, the mini bus lost its balance after one of its tyres burst.
“After that the mini bus hit the Bolero Camper,” Barhath said.
The mini bus was coming from Dantal village while Bolero Camper was on its way to Balesar from Jhanvar village. Police said 13 people died on the spot, while three seriously injured died at MDM Hospital in Jodhpur.
Five other injured were undergoing treatment at MDM Hospital, said doctors. The dead include six women, a child and nine men.
According to the police, the identity of the deceased was being identified.
Several ministers and leaders, including chief minister Ashok Gehlot and deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot, expressed their grief over the accident .
Gehlot tweeted expressing condolences: “Extremely pained by the loss of lives in a terrible road accident in Balesar, #Jodhpur on NH 125. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. May God give them strength to bear this terrible loss. Hope and pray those injured recover soon.”
Sachin Pilot too offered condolences. In a tweet, he said, “The news of the accident was sad and unfortunate. I express my condolences to the families of the deceased and prayers for the speedy recovery of the injured.” Reeling off figures about the world’s largest sanitation campaign, which built more than 110 million toilets in five years, the largest health insurance scheme providing free treatment of up to ~5 lakh a year to 500 million people, the largest financial inclusion programme that opened bank accounts for more than 370 million poor people, and the largest digital identification programme that saved more than $ 20 billion by curbing corruption, Modi said such measures gave a motivational message to the world and showed it a new path.
Modi made a strong pitch for multilateralism and a reformed United Nations with new strength and direction to tackle changes brought about in social and private life, economy, security, connectivity and international ties by modern technology. “A split world is not in anyone’s interest under these circumstances. Nor do we have the option to stay within our borders,” he said.
As the land of Buddha, he said, India has given the world peace and not war. “That is why there is seriousness and outrage in our voice when we warn the world about terrorism,” Modi said, speaking in Hindi.
“We believe this is one of the biggest challenges, not for any single country but for the entire world and humanity”, he said.
“A world divided in the name of terror hurts the principles on which the UN was born. Therefore, for the sake of humanity, I consider it imperative for the world to be united against terror,” he added.
Modi did not name any country, not even Pakistan, which India has described as the “hub” of terrorism. The omission was intended to avoid “getting into the mud” with Pakistan, which attacked India as always and raised Kashmir, but to rise above the annual mudslinging and increase India’s profile as an emerging power with global goals and responsibilities, officials said.
This was only the second time in the past 10 years that a speech at the UN General Assembly by an Indian leader didn’t mention Pakistan, the last instance being in 2011 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. It found 10 mentions in 2010, five each in 2013 and 2014, and three, six, 15 and 12 mentions over the next four years.
Modi also highlighted other development goals of his government and spoke of how they could benefit people around the world. Referring to a sign on the wall of the UN building, “No More Single Use Plastic”, he said India is running a major campaign to be free of single use plastic.
Though India’s contribution to global warming is very small from the perspective of history and per capita emission, it is working on the target of generating 450 GW from renewable energy and has established the International Solar Alliance, he said.
“What’s he [Modi] going to do when he lifts the curfew? Does he think the people of Kashmir are quietly going to accept the status quo? What is going to happen when the curfew is lifted will be a bloodbath,” he said. He added, “They will be out in the streets. And what will the soldiers do? They will shoot them… Kashmiris will be further radicalised.”
Khan’s remarks were in line with the stance adopted by Pakistan’s leadership since India revoked Jammu & Kashmir’s special status on August 5 – that the situation in Kashmir could trigger a war between the two countries.
He also repeatedly mentioned another issue that has been raised by the Pakistani leadership in recent weeks – any terror attack or flare-up of violence in Kashmir would be blamed by India on Pakistan and could lead to a situation like the stand-off that occurred after the February 14 suicide attack in Pulwama claimed by the Jaish-e-mohammed.
“There will be another Pulwama and guess what, they will blame us,” Khan said. “They might come and bomb us again and another cycle might start.”
To ensure that the two nuclear-armed nations do not come face to face as they did in February, he said, the UN has a responsibility to step in to make India lift “this inhuman curfew” in Kashmir, free all prisoners and then work to give Kashmiris the right of self-determination.
Khan said India had resorted to the “mantra of Islamic terrorism” to get the world community on its side on the Kashmir issue, and Western powers were reluctant to intervene as they had their eyes on the Indian market of more than a billion people.
He also contended that the situation in Kashmir could radicalise Muslims in India and other parts of the world – not because of religion but from a feeling that there was no justice – and this could lead to more problems. “You’re forcing people into radicalisation,” he said.
Khan also spoke at length on his efforts to reach out to India after his election last year but added that his overtures had been rebuffed.
The three other issues that Khan raised in his speech were climate change, corruption, especially among the elite, and Islamophobia. He said that Islamophobia had grown at an alarming pace since the since 9/11 terror attacks and was creating divisions.