RAIPUR: Five men were killed and seven others critically injured after a speeding truck carrying paddy rammed into a stationary pickup van on the Jagdalpur National Highway near Markatola Ghat in Chhattisgarh’s Balod district on Friday, police said.
According to local authorities, a group of 15 to 20 youths was returning to Balod after attending a Ganesh idol immersion ceremony (Ganesh Visarjan) in Dhamtari. Their pickup van, which was also carrying dhumal bands and DJ sound systems, broke down near Markatola Ghat.
The driver pulled the vehicle over to the side of the road, and several youths stayed inside the cabin to take shelter from the rain. Moments later, a fast-moving truck carrying paddy violently crashed into the parked pickup van from the front. The impact was so severe that the truck overturned on the road, spilling heaps of paddy bags and crushing several people beneath it.
Panic and cries for help erupted as some victims were thrown across the highway while others remained trapped under the overturned wreckage. Five youths succumbed to their injuries on the spot. Emergency responders from the Dial-112 team rushed to the scene immediately upon being alerted.
Gurur Sub-Divisional Officer of Police (SDOP) Maya Sharma confirmed the deaths of five youths and stated that medical attention is being prioritized for the injured
With the assistance of locals, police teams extracted the survivors and rushed them to medical facilities. Seven individuals in critical condition were subsequently referred to Raipur for advanced emergency treatment.
Preliminary assessments suggest that slick road conditions caused by persistent rainfall may have contributed to the truck driver losing control, though an official inquiry is underway to determine the precise sequence of events.