Berhampur/Baripada: Two people were killed and over 70 injured in four accidents across Odisha Sunday, police said.
A 29-year-old man named Biswasundar Jena from Balasore district drowned in a waterfall near the Lulung tourist spot inside the Similipal Tiger Reserve in Mayurbhanj district.
According to Baripada Sadar police, Biswasundar accidentally slipped into the waterfall and drowned while picnicking with 11 others in Lulung.
He was immediately taken to the PRM Medical College and Hospital in Baripada, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival.
In Nayagarh district, one person died and three others were critically injured when their car caught fire after crashing into a tree near Jamusahi, according to police.
The victims were traveling from Chhattisgarh to Puri to visit the Shree Jagannath Temple on New Year’s Day. Their identities are not known yet, police added.
The four critically injured individuals were rushed to the Nayagarh community health centre (CHC) in Dasapalla, where doctors declared one of them dead upon arrival.
The other three were transferred to AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, police added.
About 30 picnickers were injured in Balia near Purushottampur in Ganjam district when their vehicle overturned, police said.
Most of the injured were admitted to the nearby Purushottampur hospital, while a couple of them were taken to MKCG Medical College and Hospital.
In another accident, around 40 picnickers from Jajpur district were returning from Jeerang in Gajapati district when their bus overturned near Taptapani ghat, according to police.
The injured individuals were taken to Digapahandi hospital and MKCG Medical College and Hospital, said Sabyasachi Malla, IIC of Pattapur police station.
PTI