ROURKELA: A day after a truck rammed into makeshift shops killing four persons in Sambalpur, five women labourers were mowed down and seven others injured by a speeding car in Sundargarh district on Wednesday. The car hit the divider of the Biju Expressway and collided with another four-wheeler on the opposite lane at Ramabahal under Rajgangpur police limits, 30 km from Rourkela. Five women workers, engaged in maintenance of the State Highway -10 (Biju Expressway), were killed. Seven others, including another woman labourer and six persons in the two vehicles, were injured.
Rajgangpur police station IIC Gokulanand Sahu said the car was on its way towards Rourkela when the accident took place. The driver lost control of the vehicle and hit the road divider before jumping on to the opposite lane and ramming into an SUV. The labourers were working on the road divider when they were run over by the car. Two of them were declared brought dead at Rajgangpur Area Hospital.
The rest three were pronounced dead at Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH). He said the injured 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).
They said the errant car driver, Sandeep Lakra (25), of Sundargarh town and his parents were on their way towards Rourkela. Sandeep Lakra was hospitalised with injuries, but he is stable. Two days back, a 21-year-old girl, Priya Gupta, was killed at Basanti colony in Rourkela after she was hit by a speeding motorcycle. The reckless rider, Ranjit Sahu, was arrested by Uditnagar police.
In a similar incident of reckless driving in Sambalpur on Tuesday, a truck ran over makeshift shops on the roadside at Parmanapur, killing four persons and injuring two others. The shops were set up for Dhanu Yatra festival which was going on at Paramanapur under Sason police limits. All the victims were vendors.