At least 16 passengers were injured, nine of them critically, after a bus carrying pilgrims from West Bengal to Puri rammed into a stationary truck near the Badachana overbridge in Odisha's Jajpur district early on Friday, Utkal Daily reported, citing the UDN news service. News agency ANI separately confirmed that several passengers were injured when a bus carrying around 55 pilgrims collided with a stationary truck under Badachana police station limits.

Source: Utkal Daily (UDN)

The bus was travelling from Medinipur in West Bengal to Puri, the temple town that draws pilgrims from across eastern India, when it hit the truck from behind in the early hours of Friday, according to the reports. ANI said the collision took place under the limits of Badachana police station and that further details were awaited.

Source: ANI via Daily Prabhat

Nine critical, two shifted to Cuttack

All the injured were first taken to the Badachana Community Health Centre, and two critically injured passengers were shifted to Cuttack for advanced treatment, Utkal Daily reported. Five of the injured are women, the report said. Republic TV, reporting from the scene, said the truck had been parked while its crew changed a tyre and that the bus driver and another passenger were trapped and had to be rescued, with serious leg injuries.

According to the Utkal Daily report, the truck had suffered a tyre puncture and was parked along the roadside near the overbridge when the bus crashed into it. The report said the bus driver is suspected to have dozed off at the wheel — a suspicion reported by the outlet, not a confirmed finding — and police are expected to investigate the circumstances of the crash.

No deaths were reported in the ANI or Utkal Daily accounts available at the time of publication. Awaaz Punjab will update this story if police or hospital authorities release a confirmed casualty or injury update.