Ahmedabad:
Eighteen pilgrims, including five children and eight women, were killed when an open loading van in which they were travelling collided with the state transport bus near Jhilwada village of Patan district, police said on Wednesday.
Fifteen others were injured in the head-on collision. Most of the victims who were in the van belonged to a minority community from Jhilsan village of Mehasana district and were returning after offering prayers at a dargah in Radhanpur, police officials said.
The incident took place on Sami-Jhilwada Road when the van was hit by the Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) bus coming from the opposite direction, police officials said.
Eighteen people were killed in the accident, including eight women, five children and five men, police officials said.
Those injured were taken to the nearest hospital in Sami taluka and ten out of them, who were in a critical condition, shifted to hospitals in Radhanpur and Patan, they said.