Desk Correspondent , Jaipur - A Tuesday morning commute turned into a nightmare on the Jodhpur-Jaisalmer highway when a private bus carrying over 30 passengers collided head-on with a heavy-duty trailer truck. The collision, which took place near the village of Agolai, was so violent that the bus was virtually split open, with the front rows of seating crushed into the engine block. Four passengers were killed instantly, while 16 others sustained life-threatening injuries, turning the quiet highway into a scene of devastation and desperate rescue efforts.

Witnesses described a harrowing scene where the cries of trapped survivors could be heard from within the twisted wreckage. Local villagers and police worked side-by-side for hours, eventually resorting to gas cutters to slice through the mangled metal and extricate those pinned beneath the seats. The 16 survivors were rushed to Jodhpur’s MDM Hospital, where several remain in intensive care. "The impact was so massive it felt like a bomb blast. We had to pull people out through the windows and the roof," a local rescuer shared, recounting the struggle to reach the victims before medical teams arrived.

The Rajasthan police have initiated a probe into the crash, with initial findings suggesting that the trailer truck may have veered into the wrong lane while trying to navigate a sharp curve at high speed. The tragedy has once again put the spotlight on the safety of the Jodhpur-Jaisalmer stretch, which has seen a spike in accidents due to heavy commercial traffic and speeding. As the district administration coordinates with hospital authorities to provide emergency relief, the highway has been partially reopened after cranes cleared the debris that had stalled traffic for over four hours.