New Delhi, December 4:

Three Nepali pilgrims and the Indian helper of a truck died when a bus carrying 60 Nepali pilgrims rammed into the parked truck near Agra last night. The bus was returning from Mathura. Around 32 other pilgrims were injured.

The bus rammed into the truck at Kaushalpur near Agra, said Agra city police sub-inspector Santosh Kumar Pandey.

The deceased include 54-year-old Chini Yadav of Nawalparasi’s Tilakpur VDC and 70-year old Udasi Devi Chaudhary of Tilakpur VDC-5, said a pilgrim Tej Bahadur Chaudhary of Amrot-7, Nawalparasi. The bus driver also died, but his address is not known.

Most of the pilgrims are from the Tharu community and natives of Rupandehi and Nawalparasi, Chaudhary said. The deceased driver seemed to be from the Indo-Nepal border area. Attempts are being made to ascertain his identity, Pandey told this daily.

Soon after the accident, all the injured were rushed to the local SN Medical College and Heritage Hospital.

“We reached Mathura on November 27 and were returning home in three buses,” said Chaudhary. “Passengers in the other two buses have returned to Nepal.” Principal of the SN Medical College, Dr Devaki Nandan, said the critically-injured person has been placed on a ventilator, adding that the rest of the injured are stable.