Balasore: Four persons including three of a family turned critical after a car they were traveling in plunged into a roadside gorge on NH-60 near Nidhipanda under Rupsa Police Station area in the district on Thursday.
The injured have been identified as the family members of one Kameshwar Patra of Chandaneshwar area of Balasore.
As per the report, Patra’s wife and two children were returning from a work in Nilagiri area of the district this morning when the mishap took place. A front tyre of their car (Registration No. OR 01 S 9412) suddenly burst causing the driver to lost control over the vehicle. The car later struck a pick-up van from behind and skidded off the highway to plunge into a roadside gorge near Nidhipanda from a height of over 40 feet.
Some passers-by immediately swung into action and rescued the victims from the car which sunk in the gorge following the mishap.
While the injured have been admitted to a hospital in Balasore, they are said to be in critical condition with a nine-year-old girl among the victim having a fracture in his leg.
The car involved in the mishap could not have been rescued from the gorge despite police’s efforts till this report was being filed.
Ms Kalinga