Kandhamal: Two persons were killed and another sustained critical injuries after a bike and a tractor collided head-on near Kotapadi under Baliguda police limits in Kandhamal district on the intervening night of April 23-24.
The deceased have been identified as Radhekrushna Pujari and Dasarath Bishimajhi. The injured is yet to be identified. The trio was travelling on a motorcycle when the mishap took place.
According to a source, Radhekrushna, Dasarath and another person, residents of Bigapadar village under Sindrigaon panchayat, were returning home from Baliguda area on a motorcycle.
As they were nearing Kotapadi, a tractor coming from the opposite direction hit their bike from the front. The collision was so intense that Radhekrushna and Dasarath died on the spot.
Hearing the collision sound, local residents rushed to the spot and informed the police. Upon reaching the spot, the police recovered the bodies and admitted the critically injured youth at Baliguda CHC. Later, the youth was shifted to Phulbani district headquarters hospital (DHH) as his condition deteriorated.
After the mishap, the driver of the tractor had fled from the spot. The police seized the tractor and launched a manhunt for the driver.
A detailed probe is underway, it was learnt.
PNN