BALASORE: Three persons were killed after a speeding truck rammed into a vehicle parked along NH-16 near Dahisada chowk under Soro police limits late on Sunday night.
The deceased were identified as truck helper Vookuri Ajay Kumar (33) of Nalgonda district in Telangana and assistant Dara Sudarshan Rao (22) of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh. The identity of the truck driver is yet to be ascertained.
Police said a snag-hit truck bearing Jharkhand registration was parked along the NH near Dahisada chowk for the past several days. At around 12.30 am, a truck bearing Uttar Pradesh registration was heading towards Bhadrak from Balasore at high speed. Its driver reportedly failed to notice the stationary truck and rammed his vehicle into it from behind.
The impact was so severe that the front portion of the speeding truck was completely mangled, trapping the driver, helper and the assistant inside the cabin.
On hearing the loud crash, locals rushed the spot and found the three trapped inside the truck’s cabin with grievous injuries. On being informed, Soro police and fire services personnel reached the mishap site. Using a gas cutter, the fire personnel rescued the injured trio who was rushed to Soro hospital. However, the doctors declared them dead.
IIC of Soro police station Mukunda Murari Patra said poor visibility, high speed and lack of warning signals from the stationary truck caused the accident. Police seized the bodies for postmortem. An unnatural death case has been registered and efforts are on to identify the deceased driver and inform his family members. Both the vehicles involved in the mishap have been seized and further investigation is underway, Patra added.