Boinda: Three persons were killed while four others were critical when seven friends on a Mahindra Bolero were on their way to the Lord Jagannath temple in Puri Friday.
Their vehicle was hit from the rear by a passenger bus ‘Sushree’ en route to Sambalpur from Puri. The incident was reported from Champapur on Cuttack-Sambalpur National Highway-55 under Kishorenagar police limits in Angul district.
The deceased were identified as Ashok Devgan, Gopal Devgan and Siba Jadav. The injured were Krishna Jadav, Bhajuv Jadav, Kali Charan Devgan and Mahaveer Devgan. All the seven friends hail from Raigarh district in Chhattisgarh.
According to police, the friends on a Bolero set off for Puri to visit Lord Jagannath temple. However, the night coach bus ‘Sushree’ hit the vehicle from the rear near Champapur, apparently after the driver lost control on the wheels.
Locals came to the rescue of the injured and informed the police. The injured were admitted to Handpa community health centre (CHC) where Ashok and Gopal were declared brought dead.
After preliminary treatment, Bhajuv and Siba were shifted to Burla-based VSS Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (VIMSAR) as their condition deteriorated. However, Siba succumbed to his injuries during treatment.
Police registered a case and seized both the vehicles while the bus driver was on the run. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem while further investigation is on, the police said. PNN