New Delhi, July 29 -- Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Deoghar MP Nishikant Dubey on Tuesday expressed condolences over the deaths of several Kanwar Yatra devotees in a bus accident in Jharkhand's Deoghar district, claiming that at least 18 people had lost their lives.

"In my Lok Sabha constituency of Deoghar, during the Kanwar Yatra in the month of Shravan, 18 devotees lost their lives due to a bus and truck accident. May Baba Baidyanath Ji grant strength to their families to bear this grief," Dubey wrote on X.

Earlier, Santhal Pargana Zonal Inspector General (IG) S K Sinha confirmed five deaths. "Five Kanwariyas have died in a road accident as their bus collided with a truck. Several others are injured. More details are awaited...