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Truck mows down four in Durga idol immersion procession in Bengal
Four people were killed and at least six were injured when a truck ploughed through revellers who were part of a procession to immerse a Durga idol in Bengal’s Hooghly district on Friday night, police said.
Four people were killed and at least six were injured when a truck ploughed through revellers who were part of a procession to immerse a Durga idol in Bengal’s Hooghly district on Friday night, police said.
The accident took place in Balagarh area, about 76 km away from Kolkata around 11:30 pm.
“A speeding truck hit on the people who came to watch the immersion procession. The four died at the spot as the trucks ploughed through the crowd. Six, who were injured, were taken to Imambara Hospital at Chuchura,” said Sukesh Kumar Jain, superintendent of police of Hooghly district.
Locals, however, claimed that five people were killed in the accident.
The truck entered the road despite police designating it as a ‘No Entry’ zone to ensure the safety of those participating in immersion processions. The driver of the truck managed to escape. Locals caught hold of the helper, beat him up and handed him over to the police.
In a separate accident involving a mini truck in Bandel area of the same district, two persons including the driver died were killed and five others were injured.
Road accidents have become a menace in Bengal, prompting chief minister Mamata Banerjee to personally lead a campaign to promote safe driving. Ironically, she had given a grant of ₹10,000 to each of the 28,000 community Durga pujas in the state this year to carry forward a road safety campaign, the slogan for which is ‘Save Drive, Save Life’.
In 2016, as many as 6,544 people were killed in road accidents in West Bengal in 13,580 accidents. In 2015, 6,234 people died in 13,208 accidents that year.
