BHOPAL: Five tribal men returning to their village after attending a family function were crushed to death by a speeding truck in the Gadasarai area of the tribal-dominated Dindori district of Madhya Pradesh on the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday.
The incident happened at around 1.30 am near Kikra Talab (around 40 km from the Dindori district headquarters) when a group of tribals were returning from a family function to their native village, Paraswah.
The tyre of the pick-up vehicle in which the tribals were travelling suddenly got punctured, after which five to six men started assisting the driver in addressing the issue.
At that time, a speeding truck coming from the opposite side, returning to Maihar district after supplying cement for some infrastructure project, ran over the tribal men, killing five of them on the spot and injuring one person.
The deceased men were identified as Pawan Kumar Marawi (32), Vishal Singh Dhurve (58), Rajkaran Banwasi (30), Bihari Singh Udde (31) and Pawan Singh Udde (52).
The injured, identified as Udai Pratap Singh (20), has been admitted to the Dindori district hospital, where he is stated to be out of danger.
Acting in the matter, the police have arrested the driver of the vehicle that killed the five tribal men, and further investigations are underway.
According to Dindori district collector Anju Pawan Bhadoriya, “While an assistance of Rs 50,000 each has been released to the next of kin of the five deceased through the Red Cross Society, Rs 4 lakh each has been announced under the state government’s Sambal Scheme.”