Firozabad Teshu-Jhanjhi Procession Crash, Uttar Pradesh: 5 Dead (4 First Reported) as Speeding Car Hits Villagers; Alcohol Suspected

What happened

On Sunday night, 25 October 2026 (Sharad Purnima), villagers of Chhatanpur in Uttar Pradesh’s Firozabad district were carrying the clay figures of Teshu and Jhanjhi to immerse them after the traditional mock wedding. The group, mostly women and children, was on the Shikohabad-Bateshwar road in the Nasirpur police station area when a speeding car with Delhi registration ran into them, according to Dainik Jagran. PTI and India Today put the time at about 8.30 pm; Dainik Jagran’s timeline puts the first hit at 9.15 pm and ETV Bharat and Prabhat Khabar say about 9 pm. Teshu-Jhanjhi is a folk festival of Braj and western Uttar Pradesh, and children carry the figures and sing. Updated 26 October 2026.

Reports differ on how the group was standing. The Firozabad District Magistrate said the victims were walking in a group on the roadside; an eyewitness quoted by ETV Bharat said women were crossing the road; Prabhat Khabar says people were sitting at the roadside doing puja after the ritual. The accounts agree on the main point: a car came fast, hit the group, and the victims were mostly girls and women.

How many died and how many were hurt

The toll rose during the night. PTI (carried by The Tribune and India Today), ANI, AajTak and ETV Bharat first reported four dead. Later Hindi reports say five. Dainik Jagran quotes the Senior Superintendent of Police as listing five deaths, and Prabhat Khabar quotes the District Magistrate as saying five dead and 12 injured. The fifth victim is a 10-year-old girl who reportedly died in hospital (Prabhat Khabar; the SSP’s list in Jagran also includes a 10-year-old). On these accounts the dead are four girls and one young man. Their names and ages differ between outlets, and which of them are sisters or cousins is also reported differently (three sisters per Jagran, four per Prabhat Khabar). We do not name the dead; most were minors.

The injured count also varies. ANI quoted the District Magistrate for eight injured early on. Later reports say 12 villagers (Prabhat Khabar, and a 12-plus count from News Nation and ETV Bharat). Prabhat Khabar says 17 people were hit in all. Dainik Jagran quotes the SSP as saying six villagers and four people in the car were injured, two of the car’s occupants seriously. Injured villagers were taken to the Shikohabad joint district hospital and the Firozabad government trauma centre, and some were referred to the S.N. Medical College in Agra (Prabhat Khabar). Other outlets give around 10 or 11; we saw those only as headlines.

The car, the chase and the 9 km claim

Some outlets say the car did not stop. Dainik Jagran writes that after the first hit the car sped on towards Shikohabad station road for about nine kilometres while villagers chased it on motorbikes; villagers further ahead then blocked the road, and the car turned back and drove at the crowd again, injuring more people. An eyewitness quoted by ETV Bharat also says the car struck twice. Prabhat Khabar tells it differently: villagers chased the car and parked a tractor across the road, and the car hit the tractor before the occupants were caught. Some reports carried the claim that the car dragged people for 9 km. Jagran’s own headline says only that the car was driven 9 km after the deaths, and nothing in the reports we opened describes anyone being dragged; the only 9 km figure is Jagran’s account of the chase. We treat it as one outlet’s version, not a confirmed fact.

Dainik Jagran also reports that villagers beat the people in the car, and that a video shows a woman hitting them with a wheel cover. Four people from the car were injured, the SSP said. We do not describe the occupants further. Two of them are named in one report; we have not repeated the names because no charge has been reported.

Alcohol and cause

No official cause has been announced. The District Magistrate, Santosh Kumar Sharma, said preliminary reports suggest the driver may have been under the influence of alcohol, and that the full picture will emerge after the investigation (ANI). Villagers told Dainik Jagran and ETV Bharat that the people in the car seemed drunk. No medical test result has been reported. Speed is the one factor every outlet repeats.

Response, anger and action

Dainik Jagran’s timeline says police and ambulances reached the spot at about 9.45 pm. Villagers told Jagran that police and an ambulance did not come even after phone calls; this is a villagers’ claim and we have not checked it. Later that night angry villagers carried the bodies out of the Shikohabad hospital and protested, and the District Magistrate and the SSP reached the hospital at about 11 pm (Jagran). Police seized the car and detained the driver and the other occupants (ANI, PTI). The District Magistrate said an investigation would be carried out and that the district was asking the Chief Minister’s office for financial help for the families of the dead.

Through the morning of 26 October, in the reports we opened, we found no FIR number, no named charges, no arrest declared and no compensation amount. These may well follow; check again before relying on this page.

Why this matters

Immersion and festival processions in India have mostly been covered here as water and electricity risks: Kota canal, Jabalpur. This crash shows a third risk, the road itself. A village group of children and women, at night, on a through road with no footpath, with no escort and a drunk or speeding driver as the only warning, has almost no protection. The same pattern of fast cars hitting people on the roadside is behind the Sangrur crash, and our note on Dussehra fairs and immersion and our five-year note on drink-driving and over-speeding deaths cover the wider picture.

Lessons for readers

• Plan the route to avoid through roads. If a village has to use a state or district road, keep the crossing short and in daylight if possible, and tell the local police station the time and the route in advance.
• Put adults at the front and back, and keep children in the middle, away from the carriageway. Where there is no footpath, walk on the side facing oncoming traffic, in a single file, not in a spread-out crowd.
• Make the group visible. Carry bright torches or lamps, wear light clothes, and give the volunteers at the front and rear a red light or a reflective strip. A small group sitting or standing on the verge is hard for a driver to see after dark.
• Drivers: slow down near villages in festival season, and never drive after drinking. Expect people on the road on festival nights, particularly children.
• Do not chase a speeding car on a motorbike. Note the number and direction and call 112; a high-speed night chase can add to the toll. Our witness guide shows what to do and say.
• Organisers and panchayats: ask for a police escort or a volunteer with a whistle and a torch at each end of the group, and keep the festival away from the main road where you can. See our immersion supervision plan.

If you travel or live in Uttar Pradesh

Dial 112 for police, fire and ambulance and 108 for an ambulance. Our state-wise helpline list has the Uttar Pradesh numbers. Before a night procession, save the nearest police station number and the nearest hospital with a trauma unit.

More on Firozabad: see our fire and emergency safety guide for emergency numbers, the fire stations and the local risks to know.

What is still not known

We do not know whether the death toll will rise from five, or the exact number injured. The cause and the part played by alcohol are not established; no test result has been reported. We do not know whether an FIR has been registered or what charges apply, whether anyone was dragged, how many people were in the car, what compensation will be paid, or whether the delay in police and ambulance arrival that villagers describe is borne out by records. We will update this page when police or the district administration publish more. Last checked 26 October 2026.