Heavy machinery from an iron mine near Gwalior helped rescue pilgrims trapped beneath an overturned truck at the Sheetla Mata temple fair in the early hours of Sunday, as mine workers, police personnel, temple committee members and local residents worked for hours to reach those pinned underneath.
The mine crew was alerted after the truck crushed pilgrims at the fair. Satendra Singh, a Santau resident employed at an iron mine about a kilometre from the temple, was among the first to reach the site. He found people trapped beneath the vehicle, with some struggling to breathe, and contacted the mine for immediate help, according to people involved in the rescue.
JCB operator Prince Kumar Prajapati reached the spot within minutes with a JCB machine. Police personnel cleared a route for the equipment to reach the accident site. With victims trapped beneath the truck’s tyres, Prajapati used the JCB bucket to puncture the tyres, allowing them to deflate and creating additional breathing space for those underneath.
A Poclain excavator from the mine arrived soon after. The JCB and excavator worked together to lift the overturned truck sufficiently for rescuers to pull out the injured and move them to hospital. A Hydra mobile crane later arrived from the city and helped bring the vehicle back upright.
The rescue effort continued from the previous night into the afternoon, with mine staff operating their equipment alongside police, temple committee members and local residents. The intervention demonstrated the immediate value of construction and mining machinery in a time-critical rescue, particularly when people were trapped beneath a heavy vehicle and conventional lifting tools were not enough.
The incident also depended on access to the site. Police cleared a route for the JCB and excavator, allowing the machines to reach the overturned truck quickly. The mine was located approximately one kilometre from the temple, enabling the equipment and operator to arrive within minutes of the alert.
Those involved in the operation said the machines first created breathing space and then lifted the truck so that rescuers could reach the victims. The injured were subsequently taken to hospital, while the combined rescue operation continued for several hours at the temple fair site.
