Gujarat: Two killed, five hurt in road accident

Ahmedabad: Two people were killed and five others injured when a car hit them in Gujarat's Banaskantha district on Wednesday, police said. Besides, two persons drowned in a river during a religious programme in Anand district, they said.

In Banaskantha, a speeding car hit seven pilgrims who were walking towards a temple in Gadh village near Palanpur town to attend a religious fair in the early hours, Gadh police station's sub-inspector L G Vala said. "Out of the seven victims, two men died on the spot, while five others were injured and shifted to a hospital in Palanpur," he said.

After the accident, the car driver fled from the spot leaving the vehicle behind, the official said, adding that efforts were on to nab him. In another incident, two youths died due to drowning in the Mahisagar river passing from Valvod village in Borsad taluka of Anand district early in the morning, an official from Bhadran police station said.

The victims, along with many other devotees of 'Dasha Maa', had gone to the river to immerse the deity's idols as part of an annual ritual. They started drowning while taking a bath in the river after immersing the idols. One of them, Nandu Makwana died on the spot, the other victim, Mayur Makwana, who was pulled out alive by locals, died shortly after being admitted to a nearby hospital, the police said.