A three-year-old boy and his 65-year-old grandmother were killed and six other members of their family were injured after a modified three-wheeler motorcycle overturned near the Pir Nigaha shrine in Himachal Pradesh’s Una district on Saturday, according to police and local reports.
The vehicle, locally referred to as a ‘bike rehri’, was carrying the family as they returned from the shrine, where they had gone to pay obeisance. Police said the vehicle went out of control near the temple before overturning.
The deceased were identified as three-year-old Akhil and his grandmother, Jilo Kumari. The family members were residents of Bhalath village in Punjab’s Kapurthala district.
Local residents reached the crash site after hearing the injured people call for help. They arranged transport for the victims to the regional hospital in Una, where doctors declared the boy and his grandmother dead.
One of the injured women suffered a skull fracture and was referred to the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh for further treatment. The report did not provide details about the condition of the remaining injured family members.
The incident highlights the risks associated with modified or locally adapted vehicles being used to transport several passengers on public roads. However, police have not yet established whether the vehicle’s design, passenger load, road conditions, driver error or another factor caused the crash. The cause remains under investigation.
Una Superintendent of Police Sachin Hiremath said a case had been registered and that police were investigating the accident. No further details about the case or any action against the vehicle operator were available in the report.
The crash occurred near the Pir Nigaha shrine, a well-known religious destination in Una that draws visitors from neighbouring states. The involvement of a family travelling from Punjab also underscores the need for safe road access and passenger transport around regional pilgrimage sites, particularly where visitors may rely on informal or modified vehicles for local movement.
The immediate response came from residents near the shrine, who helped move the injured to hospital. The next steps will depend on the police investigation into how the vehicle was modified, whether it was legally permitted to carry passengers, and what caused it to overturn. Police have not announced a timeline for completing the investigation.
