Bus carrying pilgrims turns turtle, one killed PDF  | Print |  E-mail
News - Mizzima News
Report by Myint Maung   
Monday, 25 January 2010 15:57


A bus bound for Bodh Gaya in Bihar state in India carrying Buddhist pilgrims from Rangoon turned turtle killing one and injuring at least 10 on Saturday.

The bus carrying 15 pilgrims was on a Buddhist pilgrimage circuit in India. On its 13-day trip, it met with an accident near Sangatsa Nagara, about 300 kilometres southeast of capital New Delhi at about 5 a.m.

“Ko Thein Myint (50) from Hlaing Township, Rangoon died in the accident. Many other passengers sustained injuries. The dead pilgrim was cremated on Saturday evening there. We shall go to Bodh Gaya on Monday if we recover from our injuries. I don’t want to continue the journey anymore,” one of the pilgrims told Mizzima.

“The bus overturned at around 5 a.m. about 30 kilometres from the destination. The driver failed to notice the sign warning of a zigzag stretch ahead in what was a foggy morning and veered off the road,” he added.

Pilgrims from Burma are usually on a 10-day tour to four major places of pilgrimage, which are the birth place of Lord Buddha, where he attained enlightenment, preached his first sermon and Prinivirna (death). But on the 13-day tour, pilgrims from Burma also visit the Sangatsa where Lord Buddha descended from Tavathimsa Abode apart from the four major places.

The Sangatsa hill is situated in Uttar Pradesh state in India, about 700 kilometres from Bodh Gaya.

Similarly on October 18 last year, a monk on pilgrimage U Punnya Nanda, (50) from Mogoke Vippasana Yeiktha in Thaketa Township, Rangoon received head injuries in an accident in Bodh Gaya while he was travelling in a three wheeler taxi. He died a few days later in hospital.
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