KENDRAPARA: Two road construction workers were killed and as many suffered injuries after the pickup van in which they were travelling overturned at Mugakani village under Rajnagar police limits here on Wednesday afternoon.
The deceased were identified as Sumant Mohanty (40) of Gokhani and Kumar Barik (42) of Chinchani village. The mishap took place at around 4.30 pm when the duo along with two other workers was returning home after road construction work. The ill-fated vehicle skidded off the road, turned turtle and plunged into a roadside agriculture land.
Locals rescued the four injured workers and rushed them to Rajnagar community health centre (CHC) where doctors declared Sumant and Gokhani dead. Two other workers - Gouranga Mandal and Arjun Barik - were admitted to the CHC for treatment.
Rajnagar IIC Naresh Kumar Sahoo said it is believed that the accident took place due to rash driving. The van driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle after which it overturned.
Police sent the bodies to Kendrapara district headquarters hospital for postmortem. A case has been registered and further investigation is underway, Sahoo added.