On Tuesday night, nine people from a group of twelve died in a road mishap in Madhya Pradesh when their Tempo Trax collided with a truck on Indore-Ujjain highway. According to the neighbours and relatives of the deceased, the group was on their annual pilgrimage and picnic trip. “The twelve were a closely knit group of friends. The group used to embark on a pilgrimage and picnic trip every year, they were an adventurous, happy-go-lucky lot,” said Ramesh Motiwala, one of the residents.

The group left the city on Saturday in a train. They booked a vehicle on Monday and had gone to Mandu, a tourist spot. They left for Ujjain on Tuesday and were on their way back after visiting the Mahakal Temple when the accident happened. “It is yet to sink in that my dad will not be returning. We haven’t told our mother about the incident. Don’t know how much pain the news will inflict upon her,” said 18-year-old Hiten Khorawa, son of Kiran Khorawa, one of the deceased. “Dad would always go on such trips, last year they had gone to Himachal Pradesh, this year they chose Ujjain. Even I wanted to join them but because of my studies, I had to drop the plan,” added Hiten who is in class 12 .

 “You will see a good mix of people here. Most of us here work as upholstery manufacturers. The group that had left for Indore was one of the youngest, most jovial and energetic. They were the boys to look up to during any crisis,” said Motiwala.

 The community got the news of the deaths only on Wednesday morning. “One of boys, Arvind Bhadricha called up in the morning to tell about the death. Even at that time, he said two people have died. Only later he was told that nine of his friends have died,” said another resident Khemji Bhai Bhadesa. Three people from the group, Arvind Bhadricha, Mahendra deva Hodar and Anil Shamji Bhadricha were seriously injured and are presently recuperating at Sri Aurobindo Institute of Medical Sciences in Indore. The bodies of the deceased are expected to come on Thursday morning.

“We have lived here all our lives. It is obvious that they were a closed knit group and no one opposed their trip. Nobody thought that such a thing would unfold,” said Satish Khorawa, from the Khorawa family.

“Tragedies bring people together. We will unite and try to come out of this. We will help all the women face the reality, they need our support now more than ever,” added Satish.