Gupta was jolted out of sleep when the bus trembled and there was a crash, followed by the rain of glass as the window panes shattered.

'There was pandemonium,' he recalls. 'People were crying, run, get out of the bus and there were cries of pain everywhere.'

'People lay with their arms and legs broken.'

A bus coming from the opposite direction did not see the pilgrims' stationary vehicle in the dark and rammed into it, killing three and injuring 20.

While Gupta, who was sitting opposite the driver, was unscathed, his wife Krishna, 45, injured her hand.

A woman, Phulmoti Soni, died on the spot while a couple, both in their 90s, died in hospital.