Out-of-control truck kills 13 at Hindu festival in India

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Thirteen people died after a speeding truck struck a crowd attending a Hindu festival in central India, according to an AFP report published by Citizen Digital on October 18, 2026. Officials said the collision happened in the early hours of Sunday, when devotees were gathered at a temple in Gwalior, in the state of Madhya Pradesh.

The truck was described as heavily loaded and was reported to have gone out of control before hitting the gathering. The Press Trust of India news agency attributed the death toll of 13 to hospital officials. The report did not establish why the driver lost control or give a total for the number of people injured.

President Droupadi Murmu expressed sorrow over the deaths in a social media message. She offered condolences to the families of those killed and wished the injured a speedy recovery. Her statement was among the official responses included in the account of the fatal collision.

The report also cited figures from India's roads ministry showing that the country recorded more than 183,000 road traffic deaths in 2025—an average exceeding 500 each day. India has a population of about 1.4 billion. Official data links many road fatalities nationwide to poor infrastructure, vehicles in inadequate condition and driver exhaustion, although the report did not identify any of those factors as a confirmed cause of the Gwalior crash.