BALASORE: A 29-year-old man and his nephew were killed after their car rammed into a truck in Nilagiri area of the district on Wednesday morning.
The deceased were identified as Harekrushna Mahalik and his nephew Jyotisankar Mahalik (23) of Gangpura village within Nilagiri police limits.
Sources said Harekrushna’s wedding was scheduled on June 27. He along with Jyotisankar was en route to Sergarh in a car to pick up sister for the marriage function. Near Baligohiri chowk, their four-wheeler collided head-on with a dumper truck on state highway-19.
Harekrushna was killed on the spot while Jyotisankar suffered critical injuries in the accident. He was rushed to Nilagiri hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar as his condition deteriorated. However, Jyotisankar succumbed to his injuries during treatment.
Following the mishap, irate locals blocked the state highway demanding arrest of the truck driver and deployment of traffic police at Baligohiri chowk to prevent such accidents in future. On being informed, Nilagiri sub-divisional police officer Pramod Mallik and IIC Gobardhan Nayak reached the protest site. They held discussion with the agitators following which the road blockade was lifted at around 9 am.
Police registered a case in connection with the incident. The truck involved in the mishap has been seized and efforts are underway to arrest its driver.