Bhawanipatna: A stretch of NH-26 connecting Bargarh-Borigumma has turned into a death trap as two persons were killed in three mishaps in last three days, reports said.
Besides, as many as 40 bus passengers escaped with injuries after a bus carrying them rammed into a roadside divider on the stretch early Monday. The driver and helper of the bus sustained critical injuries and were admitted to the district headquarters hospital (DHH). The mishap occurred while the private passenger bus was on its way to Amarkote from Bhubaneswar. While the exact reason of the mishap was not immediately known, police suspected the driver had dozed off while driving and that resulted in the mishap.
The back to back road mishaps cases have triggered outrage among the locals. The residents of nearby villages said it is high time the administration took immediate measures to identify the accident-prone spots on the highway and put up alert signs. They demanded construction of speed breakers in mishap-prone zones.
Earlier, a man identified as Rengata Harijan was ran over by ‘Chakadola’, a passenger vehicle, while it was on its way from Bhubaneswar to Bhawanipatna. The bus ran over Harijan while he was crossing the NH to relive himself Friday.
The incident had sparked tension in the area as the family members of the deceased staged a road blockade. Later, Kesinga BDO Lambodar Dharua, Additional tehsildar Bibindra Kumar Rout reached the spot and sent the body for post-mortem after pacifying the mob.
Similarly, a biker was killed after his motorcycle was hit by a pick-up van from opposite direction on the same spot. Another man sustained critical injuries in the incident.
PNN
