KalingaTV News Network
Puri: At least five persons were killed and four others sustained critical injury after a stone laden truck dashed head-on against an auto-rickshaw carrying them on new Jagannath Sadak near Sukala in Puri last night.
The deceased have been identified as Umakant Baliarsingh, Kumar Biswal, Sunil Samantray, Bidyadhar Baral and the auto-rickshaw driver Tapan Biswal. All the victims are residents of Andarsingh village under Kanas block of Puri.
The mishap took place late in the night while the victims were returning from Puri Swargadwara after performing last rites of one Geli Nayak of the village who died yesterday.
Driver of a speeding stone-laden truck moving from Kanas to Chandapur lost control over the wheels and ended up hitting the auto-rickshaw head-on on the Jagannath Sadak near Sukala.
The auto-rickshaw got completely mangled leaving three persons dead on the spot. Six others boarding the vehicle sustained critical injury in the crash.
All the injured were rushed to Puri District Headquarters Hospital (DHH) by some locals later in the night where two others succumbed to the injuries. Rest four were shifted to SCB Medical in Cuttack this morning.
It is being suspected that the truck driver was in an inebriated condition when the mishap happened.
Meanwhile, BJP leader Om Prakash Mishra staged a road blockade at the accident site with the family members of the deceased demanding immediate closure of a liquor shop running not very far from the spot at Bijipur Chhak. He sat on a dharna demanding a compensation of Rs 25 lakh to the kin of the victims later in the morning.
The dharna was underway till this report was being filed.
Ms Kalinga