Keonjhar: At least five persons, including a two-year-old girl, were injured when the car they were travelling in hit a truck illegally parked on National Highway-49 near Dangapani village under Sadar police limits in Keonjhar district, Tuesday morning. It was a major accident, although no one died. The mishap occurred around 9.30 AM when a family was travelling from Talcher to Keonjhar in their car.
Locals rescued them from the vehicle and admitted them to the Keonjhar headquarters hospital for treatment where their health conditions were stated to be stable after treatment. The injured persons were identified as Dipti Mahakud, 25, her daughter Dikshita Mahakud, 2, mother Mahadei Mahakud,47, father Dilip Mahakud, 52, and father-in-law Basant Kumar Mahakud,60, who was driving the vehicle, were injured.
Locals fear travelling on the route due to occurrence of frequent accidents. Dipti Mahakud’s husband is working in a mining company in Suakati area of Keonjhar district and lives in Keonjhar city with his family. After the accident, traffic was stopped on the road for several hours. The police have impounded both the vehicles and started investigating the incident. Notably, frequent accidents are taking place on the route due to illegal parking on National Highway-49 from Anjar to Suakati under Sadar police limits. The road becomes narrow and unsafe to travel as trucks are illegally parked on the highway for hours together. The illegal parking of trucks also leads to traffic jam on the highway and emergency vehicles often get stranded on the road for hours together. Since the area is considered as an elephant corridor, the forest department has put up an information board to prevent vehicles from parking but drivers continue to park their trucks on the highway. As a result, elephants and other animals face difficulties crossing the highway to visit the jungles opposite the road. However, neither police nor forest or transport departments are taking any steps in this regard, which only results in more accidents.
