Tragic Crash Claims Lives of Five During Chhath Celebration Gathering

West Champaran witnessed a grim accident on Friday night as a passenger bus collided with a crowd attending a Chhath celebration in Betia. The event, featuring a street orchestra at the residence of Shatrughna Dubey, turned deadly when a bus coming from Gorakhpur attempted to divert onto the roadside and was met by an oncoming truck traveling at high speed.

The bus driver, in a bid to avoid a direct collision, lost command of the vehicle, causing it to plow into the gathering of spectators. Five men—Bahadur Mahato, Sanjay Kumar, Bhola Dubey, Devendra Dubey, and Chhangur Ram—were pronounced dead at the site. Devendra Dubey’s child was the focus of the Chhath rites when the impact occurred.

Emergency teams transported the wounded—Vinay Kumar Yadav, Shyam Babu, Moti Chand Mahato, Naresh Ram among them—to the G.M.C.H. Hospital in Betia for urgent care. The incident sparked immediate outrage among locals, who damaged the bus and truck before law enforcement arrived.

Police have taken custody of the bodies for post‑mortem analysis and opened a case of careless driving. The drivers of both the bus and the truck are still at large. This incident has heightened public demand for improved safety protocols for large gatherings held near busy roadways.