Four Nepali pilgrims returning from the Kumbha Mela in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh, died in a road accident on Friday night. The accident took place in the Bansgaon police area along the Gorakhpur Link Road when their vehicle collided with the back of a tractor-trailer.

According to local officials, the deceased include three residents of Saptari district and one from Sunsari district. Shyamananda Chaudhary, ward chair of Kanchanrup Municipality-7, confirmed the deaths of Lilawati Chaudhary and Prashuram Chaudhary from his ward. Similarly, Hariharadevi, the wife of Jitu Yadav from Kanchanrup-5, also lost her life in the accident. Sunsari’s Superintendent of Police Suman Timilsina reported that 60-year-old Santoliyadevi Yadav from Koshi Rural Municipality-2 also died in the crash.

Several others, including Upendra Narayan Chaudhary and Lalo Devi Yadav from Kanchanrup-7, Jitu Yadav from Ward-5, and Papit Lal Chaudhary along with his wife Bina Devi from Chaudandigadhi Municipality in Udayapur, were injured in the accident.

The bodies of the deceased have been sent to the district hospital for post-mortem examination, while the injured are receiving treatment at the same facility, according to an Indian newspaper Dainik Bhaskar.

Authorities in both Nepal and India are coordinating investigations into the incident.

Earlier on February 17, three Nepali pilgrims had lost their lives in a road accident while returning from the Kumbh Mela. The accident took place in Azamgarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, on the Baranasi-Azamgarh highway.