BARIPADA: A forest fire in Khejuria jungle under Thakurmunda wildlife range in Karanjia division led to a road accident, leaving five persons injured on Sunday. The incident took place at around 2 pm when drivers of an Omni car and auto-rickshaw travelling in the opposite directions were blinded by smoke and collided head on.
Sumati Maharana (28), Sasmita Nayak (15), Tiburu Maharana (7) of Thakurmunda were travelling in the autorickshaw and sustained burn injuries while Md Mamtaj (32) and Nitia Sahu (34) of Raidiha village under Thakurmunda police limits were in the car.
Sources said, the reserve forest was engulfed in a man-made fire since a couple of days. On Sunday, commuters taking that route faced a tough time due to heavy smoke, leading to the mishap. Locals and forest personnel immediately reached the spot and evacuated the injured.
“We called 108 ambulance and transferred the injured to Anandapur and Thakurmunda hospitals,” said Kishore Panigrahi, the deputy ranger of Thakurmunda wildlife range.