A truck packed with Hindu and Muslim pilgrims crashed into a gorge in northwestern India late Friday, at least 85 people being killed in the terrible accident, police said Saturday.

The truck was travelling towards a shrine in the state of Rajasthan with almost 150 on board when the driver apparently lost control and the vehicle broke a road barrier before plunging into a ravine.

Police said the accident occurred near the southern town of Rajsamund town, some 150 kilometres south of Udaipur. A police official said 85 people were killed and 60 wounded after the driver “lost control of the vehicle which fell into a 25 feet-gorge by the road.”

Preliminary investigations revealed that the truck skidded off the road in a hairpin bend. Survivors described the terrifying moments for local televisions, saying the vehicle suddenly jumped off the road and crashed.
 
Dozens of people were heard screaming or weeping in the dark before emergency teams arrived at the crash site. The rugged terrain hampered the rescue operations, cranes and equipment used by climbers being used to save the wounded or retrieve the bodies of dead persons.

Locals offered their help and assisted the rescue teams, a police official saying their aid was very useful and managed to save several lives. After three hours of strenuous work, the operation was completed, the same official said.

Injured persons were taken to nearby medical facilities, doctors saying most of them had fractured limbs and several had to be amputated .

Every year thousands of pilgrims travel to the shrine of saint Ram Devara and vehicles are usually overcrowded. Dozens of accidents occur because drivers don’t respect safety measures, but Friday’s road crash is believed to be one of the worst in India’s history.

Authorities have been criticized for failing to impose sanctions and prevent such accidents, many saying overcrowding is very common in Rajasthan.

Rupinder Singh, a Rajsamund police official denied the allegations saying, “This is one particular case, normally, trucks are not seen to load 150 to 200 people. I guess that the villagers from a cluster of villages might have hired a truck or got a free ride.”

“Such a case of a large number of people being carried in a truck is unheard of, so it is being investigated,” Singh added.

The truck involved in the crash was usually used for transporting cargo and not persons, authorities launching an investigation in order to determine who is responsible for allowing the 150 people to travel in the truck.