Seven workers died and around 20 were injured when a truck collided head-on with the pickup van carrying them inside the Renewable Energy Park near Khavda in Kutch district, in the early hours of Friday, October 9. ETV Bharat reported that the workers were heading home after a late-night shift, and that rescuers needed a crane to pull the seven out of the crushed vehicle.
Kutch Superintendent of Police Vikas Sunda told ETV Bharat that the truck struck the pickup with enough force for one vehicle to ride over the other. Police have registered a case against the truck driver, according to Gujarat Samachar. Kutch Collector Anil Ranavasiya said the district had sent Regional Transport Office and police teams to examine the crash, The NewsMill reported, citing ANI. The injured went to the district hospital in Bhuj, where the bodies were also sent for post-mortem.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi posted condolences on Friday. As of Saturday, the outlets we checked had not named the deceased, the contractor that employed them, or any compensation.
Conflicting early numbers
Accounts of how many people rode in the pickup range from “more than 15” (Gujarat Samachar) to about 30 (ETV Bharat) or 30 to 32 (the Collector’s preliminary figure, via ANI). If the higher count holds, one van was moving enough workers to fill a minibus. Investigators need to settle that number early. It decides whether the case stops at one driver’s error or extends to how contractors move workers around the site.
Why Khavda is different
The Khavda park sits in the salt desert of the Rann close to the Pakistan border. It is planned for 30 GW of solar and wind capacity, and Business Today described Adani Green’s portion in 2024 as covering about 538 sq km, with the nearest habitation some 80 km away. Bhuj, where the injured had to be taken, is a long drive south.
On a site this size, getting to work means a vehicle ride. Business Today reported in 2024 that the developer was building housing for up to 8,000 workers, with others drawn from Khavda village. Friday’s victims were on their way back from a shift that ran past midnight, on internal roads that construction trucks also use for cement, steel, panels and turbine parts. Packed passenger vans and loaded trucks on the same desert roads before dawn make a dangerous mix.
Kutch has seen this pattern before. In October 2024, five workers died of asphyxiation while cleaning a tank at an edible oil plant in Kandla. In February 2025, a bus and truck collided on the Bhuj-Mundra road and seven people died. Ports, refineries, salt works and now the energy park have drawn a large contract workforce to the district, and its roads carry heavy freight around the clock.
What the probe should answer
- The vehicle: ETV Bharat described the pickup as a goods carrier loaded with cement. Motor vehicle rules restrict carrying passengers in goods vehicles. If workers rode in the cargo bed, the question shifts to who arranged that.
- Traffic rules inside the park: Police told ETV Bharat they are checking vehicle movement inside the park. Speed limits, lighting and separate lanes or timings for heavy trucks are the obvious places to look.
- Accountability for contractors: Large developers subcontract labour and transport. Families of the dead will need to know which company is liable under labour and accident-compensation law.
What to watch
Watch for three things in the coming days: the names and home states of the victims, any ex gratia announcement from the state or the Centre, and whether the RTO findings lead to new transport rules for Khavda’s contractors. With more capacity still under construction, the park’s workforce will keep growing, and so will its night-time traffic.
Sources: ETV Bharat, Gujarat Samachar, The NewsMill (ANI), IANS via Punjab Kesari, Business Today
This report was compiled and written with AI assistance from publicly reported sources, and reviewed for accuracy.