ROURKELA: Four people were killed and over 20 were injured after a night bus collided head-on with an iron ore-laden truck on NH-143 near Sundargarh district in Odisha on Tuesday night.
The deceased were crew members of the two vehicles, including the bus driver, second driver, helper and the truck driver. Police said two passengers are in critical condition, while others sustained varying injuries and have been admitted to hospitals in Rourkela.
Police said the ill-fated bus originating from Rourkela was on its way to Jasput when the mishap occurred. It is understood that one of the front tyres of the bus burst and the driver lost control with the vehicle crashing into the multi-axle road trailer coming from the opposite direction.
After the fatal mishap, police rushed to the spot and, with help of local villagers, shifted the injured persons to different hospitals. A gas cutter was used to recover the body of the bus driver who got trapped by the steering.
Chandiposh police station IIC Srikant Kharami identified the deceased persons as the main driver of the ill-fated bus Niranjan Rout (52) of Rourkela, second driver Manas Panda (36) and helper Siba Prasad Nayak (50), both of Jajpur.
The fourth deceased person was the truck driver Santu Yadav (31) of Bhojpur district in Bihar.
He said seven injured persons have been admitted at the Hi-Tech Medical College & Hospital (HTMCH), adding two among them with critical condition are under intensive care.
Another 15 injured persons have been admitted to the Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) and JP Hospital.
After inquest on Wednesday police have preserved the bodies for autopsy and further investigation is on.
An unnatural death case has been registered and both vehicles were seized.