NEW DELHI: At least 29 Hindu devotees were killed Monday when their truck collided head on with another vehicle in the northern Indian state of Haryana as they returned from a shrine, police said.

Nine women and three children were among the dead, while another 27 people in the overcrowded truck were injured, police superintendent Satish Balan told AFP by telephone.

The devotees were returning home after visiting a temple shrine in neighbouring Rajasthan state.

“Their vehicle was maneuvering a corner when it collided with a truck,” Balan said.

India has the highest annual road death toll in the world, according to a 2009 World Health Organization report, with accidents caused by speeding, careless driving and poor roads.

Last week, 16 Hindus returning from the site of an annual pilgrimage in Indian Kashmir died when their truck plunged into a deep gorge.