Lucknow, Aug 9 (IANS): A speeding truck crushed seven people to death and injured over a dozen on Tuesday in the Hindu holy town of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

The incident took place at a time when thousands of people have thronged Ayodhya to take part in the ongoing Shravan Mela. Many of the injured were reportedly in a serious condition.

A vehicle carrying some people was stopped on Monday by police and not allowed to proceed, officials said. The pilgrims spent the night on a road divider near a police picket at Balughat.

On Tuesday morning, a truck going from Gorakhpur to Lucknow ran over them, killing seven people instantly.

Six of the deceased were identified as Gudiya Pandey, Kishori Tiwari, Leela Tiwari, Uma Shankar Dubey, Bhagwan Prasad Tiwari and Kishori Mishra. One body is yet to be identified.

The injured alleged that the policemen at the picket allowed the killer driver to escape after taking a bribe from him.