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‘Flesh of those dead still stuck to car’: Police on road accident that killed 5 in Odisha
In November last year, Odisha transport minister Nrusingha Charan Sahu told the state assembly that 43,312 people had died in road accidents between 2008 and September 2018 in over 1.04 lakh accidents. Since 2013, the annual road accident death toll has not dropped below 4000.
Five members of a dance troupe in Odisha’s coastal district of Kendrapara were killed on the spot Sunday night when the vehicle they were travelling hit a stationary truck from behind amid dense fog.
Members of the Royal Dance Troupe were on their way to Panikoili in Jajpur district at around 1 am after finishing a programme in Kendrapara town, said Derabish police station inspector Sudhir Kumar Sahu.
“The car probably could not see the truck standing near a weigh bridge at Alabanka square due to dense fog and hit it from behind. All the five died on the spot,” said Sahu.
One person was critically injured and has been sent to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
Officials said the impact of the accident was so severe that the front portion of the vehicle was completely mangled.
“We had to cut away the metal parts of the vehicle to recover the bodies. The flesh of some of the deceased are still stuck to the vehicle,” an official said.
The truck which was hit from behind has gone missing.
In the first week of 2019, there have been a series of accidents involving picnickers. Two days ago, 30 picnickers travelling from Bhadrak district to Ganjam were injured while going on a picnic.
Fatalities have been on a steady rise in Odisha over the last five years even as the state government has begun impounding the driving licence of offenders for speedy driving under the directions of Supreme Court committee on Road safety.
In November last year, Odisha transport minister Nrusingha Charan Sahu told the state assembly that 43,312 people had died in road accidents between 2008 and September 2018 in over 1.04 lakh accidents. Since 2013, the annual road accident death toll has not dropped below 4000.
As per the SC committee order, Odisha has been penalising truckers and bus owners for carrying excess goods carriage and passengers, said transport department officials. Besides, those using mobile phones while driving and those driving udner the influence of alcohol are also being penalised.
