4 killed as ambulance collides with oil tanker in Odisha’s Angul district

While the ambulance driver was killed immediately, three other persons in the ambulance also died before they could be moved to a hospital.

Published on: Mar 21, 2021, 13:36:43 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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At least four persons including a patient and driver of an ambulance were killed and three others were critically injured after an ambulance collided head-on with an oil tanker in Angul district Sunday morning, police said.

The police have started an investigation into the fatal crash. (Representational Photo/Getty Images)

Angul’s superintendent of police (SP), Jagmohan Meena said the ambulance carrying seven people including a patient from Burla in Sambalpur was on its way to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack when it collided with an oil tanker coming from opposite direction near Jarapada Chhak in Angul. The ambulance driver reportedly lost control and crashed his vehicle into the tanker.

While the ambulance driver was killed immediately, three other persons in the ambulance also died before they could be moved to a hospital.

The police sent the bodies for post-mortem and started an investigation. The injured have been admitted to the Angul District Headquarters Hospital for treatment. The oil tanker was seized by police while its driver was detained for questioning.

Amid high fatalities in road accidents in Odisha, the government plans to start an intelligent highway traffic management system between Rameswar and Chhatia on National Highway 16 by the end of this year.

At least 138 CCTV cameras along a 120-km stretch would detect over speeding and violations of helmet, seat belt and triple-riding rules. Last year, 4,738 people died in road accidents across Odisha while 5,333 deaths were reported in 2019.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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