Tragedy in wedding procession: Drunk, SUV driver ploughs into crowd killing 3, injuring 12 in Odisha's Ganjam

A 12-year-old-girl is among those killed while two more injured in the mishap are said to be critical, according to the police.

Ganjam: In an unfortunate incident, two young women and a minor girl were killed while 12 others were injured after a speeding car, driven by an intoxicated individual, ploughed into the crowd part of a wedding procession in Odisha's Ganjam district on Tuesday night.

The incident was reported in Mandiapalli village. The accused was caught by the locals and was taken to the police station where a case was registered against him. Police identified the deceased as Swapna Reddy (22), Sanju Reddy (23), and Bharti Reddy (12), all residents of Lanjipally Keshav Nagar here.

According to the police, the SUV rammed into the procession which was waiting to receive the groom family and killed three members all part of the bride's family on the spot. Twelve others were injured. All the injured were taken to Maharaja Krishna Chandra Gajapai Medical College in Brahmapur.

The condition of two among the 12 injured is said to be critical, police said quoting the doctors. The bodies of the three were moved to the district hospital for postmortem examinations. "Once the postmortems are complete, the families were handed over the bodies," a police official said.

Families accused that the driver was drunk. "He was drunk. He tried to flee from the spot but our relatives chased him and caught him. He was handed over to the Gopalpur Police Station. They have registered a case," they said while waiting for the corpses of their departed.