Koderma: Three pilgrims from Nepal, including a 10-year-old boy and an elderly couple, were killed and around 15 others injured when their bus rammed into a parked truck on the Deoghar-Nawada main road near Pokhardiha in Koderma district early Friday.Police suspect the bus driver dozed off at the wheel, leading to the high-speed collision. The bus was carrying nearly 45 devotees from Dumariya and Potiyahi villages in Nepal to Rajgir after visits to Deoghar and Basukinath.Injured passenger Anshu Chaudhary told TOI the group began its pilgrimage on Sunday and reached Deoghar on Tuesday. The devotees offered prayers at Basukinath on Wednesday, stayed there overnight and left for Rajgir on Thursday night.The impact woke nearby residents, who rushed to the spot and joined police in rescue operations. Satgawan police station officer in-charge Bablu Kumar Singh reached the site with a team. Locals and police personnel worked for hours to pull passengers out from the mangled bus.The injured were taken in police vehicles to a local community health centre for emergency treatment, while those in critical condition were shifted to Koderma Sadar Hospital. Shivam Kumar, 10, died during treatment at the CHC. Sundar Bala, 60, and her husband Nawal Kishore, 65, died while being taken to Sadar Hospital.Civil surgeon Dr Anil Kumar said the remaining injured pilgrims were discharged after treatment. Police handed over the bodies to their families, seized the bus and registered a case. An investigation is under way to determine the exact cause of the crash.
