Bhubaneswar/Nayagada: At least 30 people were injured Tuesday after a bus carrying them plunged into a paddy field following a collision with an unauthorised concrete speed breaker on the Nayagada bypass, police said. The accident occurred around 2am when the Bhubaneswar-bound bus lost control after hitting the structure, a senior police officer said. “The bus, carrying 40 people, fell about 20-ft from the bypass after hitting the concrete structure,” he said. The bus, ‘Chakadola’, bearing registration number OD-02-J-5127, was travelling from Daringbadi in Kandhamal district to Bhubaneswar when the accident occurred. It fell on its side, forcing passengers to break the windshield to escape, the officer said.
According to police, the driver failed to notice the unauthorised, massive concrete speed breaker while travelling along the bypass. The bus hit the structure, lost control and skidded off the road before plunging nearly 20 feet into the field. Police from Itamati police station and firefighters from Nayagada reached the spot after being alerted and launched a rescue operation. All the injured passengers were taken to the Nayagarh District Headquarters Hospital. Two of them were later shifted to Bhubaneswar as their condition was serious, the officer said. “The health condition of most of the injured passengers was stable,” a doctor at the hospital said. The accident has renewed concerns over road safety at Sunalati Chhak, where more than 15 accidents have reportedly occurred in the past six months, claiming at least three lives. Residents have urged the National Highways Authority, transport officials, district administration and police to take immediate safety measures.
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