Sambalpur/Khurda: Seven people, including three members of a family, were killed in two road accidents in Sambalpur and Khurda districts Thursday.
In the first incident, 4 people, three of them from a single family, were killed when the SUV in which they were travelling met with an accident near Botemura under Dhama police limits on Sambalpur-Sonpur state highway early morning.
The deceased were identified as Tapaswini Kisan (32), Binapani Kisan (55), an 18-month-old girl Gnanada Kisan and the SUV’s co-driver Sanjay Matangi (28).
Two injured passengers — Gopinath Kisan, husband of Tapaswini, and driver Madan Nayak — are undergoing treatment at the Sambalpur district headquarters hospital.
Sources said Gopinath, who is working at the PWD department, Kasipur, Rayagada district, as a junior engineer, and his family members were going to Ghanasara village from Kasipur in an SUV to attend Nuakhai festival. Madan was said to have dozed off while driving. As a result, he lost control of the vehicle and it dashed against a tree.
The tragedy sent shockwaves across Ghanasara where Gopinath’s father, mother, elder brother and other family members were waiting for their arrival for a grand Nuakhai celebration.
In the other mishap, three persons died when a tractor they were travelling in was hit by a truck near Barunei over-bridge on Kolkata-Chennai National Highway-16 in Khurda at 5.30 am.
The tractor fell eight feet down the road into a field and the truck subsequently crashed on it after the collision. The deceased were identified as the tractor driver Anjan Kumar Swain of Hansapad village under Nimapara police limits in Puri and two workers – Rajesh Behera (23) and Kanhu Charan Bhoi (25) of Ratilo village in Nimapara.
Police personnel of Khurda Industrial Estate outpost got the post-mortem of the bodies conducted before handing them over to the bereaved families. The police registered a case and began a probe.
According to sources, the tractor (OD-05E-6360) carrying stone chips was heading towards Bhubaneswar while the truck (OR-19H-0306) transporting crusher dust was going on the same route.
The truck accidentally hit the tractor near the Barunei over-bridge and dragged it by a few feet. When the tractor fell off the road down eight feet into a field, the truck crashed on it.
The tractor driver and two workers died on the spot. The truck driver fled the spot after the mishap. PNN
