ROURKELA: A picnic outing turned tragic after a 20-year-old student of the National Institute of Technology -Rourkela (NIT-R) was crushed to death by an iron-laden truck on NH-143, which was reportedly plying on the wrong side on Saturday morning.
The deceased, Karthikeya Senthil Krisnan, a second-year BTech student in Electronics and Communication Engineering department, was travelling on his scooter to Khandadhar waterfall with his friends when the accident took place between Samardari and Juniani under Lahunipada police limits.
Karthikeya was a native of Tamil Nadu. His classmate, who was riding pillion with him on the scooter, suffered grievous injuries and has been hospitalised. Sources said 16 students from the institute were going for picnic to the waterfall on hired two-wheelers.
Krisnan and the female friend were riding the same scooter when they were hit by the truck.
Expressing shock and grief over the mishap, NIT-R registrar Rohan Dhiman said the students had gone for the picnic.
“As per information, the incident occurred at around 10 am. Both Krisnan and the girl were rushed to the Lahunipada community health centre (CHC) where he was declared dead. The girl was shifted to Apollo Hospital in Rourkela and her condition is stable,” the NIT-R registrar said.
He said the deceased’s family members in Tamil Nadu have been informed. They are on way to Rourkela.
Police said the body has been preserved in the mortuary of the Bonai sub-divisional hospital and autopsy would be conducted after arrival of the his family members.
As per preliminary investigation, the incident occurred as the truck had erratically entered the wrong lane of NH near Sharma Dhaba, police said. “The truck has been seized and efforts are on to nab the driver, who is at large,” they added.