Jajpur (Odisha): In a shocking incident, seven persons were killed when a mini pickup van ferrying chickens, had a head-on collision against a truck at Chandikhol Neulpur on the national highway (NH-16) in Jajpur district of Odisha on Saturday morning.
The incident happened when a mini pickup van transporting chickens hit the truck, killing six persons on the spot while one injured person died at the hospital while undergoing treatment.
As per the information received so far, the pickup van was coming from Kolkata lost control and the vehicle hit a stationary truck, parked near the Central Bank of India at Neulpur branch. The truck was parked by the side of the road at it had developed certain technical snag. Personnel from Odisha fire service and Dharmashala police rushed to the mishap to carry out rescue operation.
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The deceased were hailing from Kolkata region in West Bengal. The driver of the pickup van was among those died in the accident. Driver of the pickup van rammed into the stationary truck from behind. The fire tender from Chandikhol was pressed into service to retrieve six bodies from the mangled vehicle, whereas one of the critically injured was rushed to a nearby hospital but he died midway.
Following the accident, a group of irate villagers blocked the road. They were protesting over police's failure to remove the stationary truck since Friday. "The truck lying by the side of the road led to the accident," they said. Later the blockade was lifted after the police intervened in the matter.
According to the police, local people initially carried out the rescue operation but the mini van was badly hit that it was impossible for anyone to survive. Police is also of the opinion that the mini van running a t a high speed couldn't negotiate the sharp turn and that caused the accident. As the accident happened early in the morning there is a possibility that the driver might have been blinded because of the sharp turn. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem and police is getting in touch with the West Bengal police to get the details of the deceased.
Local people, however, alleged that there are some sharp turns on this road and drivers occasionally fail to control the vehicles which cause fatal accidents. They demanded traffic police posting on the road. In January only there were two fatal accidents on this road.
