ROURKELA: Five women labourers engaged in road maintenance work were mowed down and seven others injured after a speeding car hit the road divider of Biju Expressway and rammed into another four-wheeler on the opposite lane, in Rajgangpur on Wednesday.
The deadly mishap occurred at Ramabahal of Rajgangpur police limits, about 30 kms from Rourkela. Rajgangpur police station IIC Gokulanand Sahu confirmed five women workers engaged in maintenance of State Highway-10 (Biju Expressway) were killed, while seven others including another woman labourer and six persons of two vehicles were injured.
Sahu said, the errant Hyundai car was on its way towards Rourkela in high speed when the driver lost control, hit the road divider and the vehicle jumped to the opposite lane to dash against a Scorpio. The labourers who were working on the road divider were mowed down. Two of them were declared brought dead at the Rajgangpur Area Hospital, while rest three were pronounced dead at the Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH).
The injured persons were shifted to Rourkela for treatment. Police identified the deceased women as Saraswati Lakra (35), Uma Lakra (38), Kalpana Lakra (25), Nauri Majhi (53) and Pana Lakra (42).
The car driver, Sandeep Lakra (25), a native of Sundargarh town was on his way towards Rourkela along with his parents. He was hospitalised with injuries but his condition is not life-threatening.
Two days ago a 21-year-old pedestrian Priya Gupta was killed at Basanti Colony of Rourkela city under Rourkela police district after she was hit by a speeding motor-bike leading to the arrest of the rider Ranjit Sahu (32) by Uditnagar police.
In a similar incident of reckless driving in Sambalpur on Tuesday, a truck ran over makeshift shops on the roadside at Parmanpur, killing four persons and injuring two others. The shops were set up for the Dhanu Yatra festival which was going on at Paramanapur under Sason police limits.