Bhubaneswar: As many as nine people died and 13 others were critically injured when the vehicle in which they were traveling skidded off the road after hitting a tree on NH 326 near Murtahandi under Kotpad Police station of Koraput district last night.
All the nine died on the spot. Police with the help of the local villagers rescued the victims from the accident site. The injured were first rushed to Kotpad hospital and later they were shifted to a hospital in Jagdlpur. The latest report said their condition was stable.
Boriguma SDPO H K Majhi said all the victims were women and belong to kulcha village of neighbouring Chhattisgarh. The accident occurred while around 22 people in a pickup van were returning to their native village after attending the last rites of a relative at Sidhigaon under Kotpad block
Though the exact cause of the accident was not known, police said the vehicle was in a high speech and suspected that the driver might have lost control of it while negotiating a curve.
The driver was absconding after the accident.After getting information Odisha Minister for Handloom, Textiles and Handicraft Padmini Dian directed the District Collector to provide all help and Medicare to the injured.
Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan expressed his profound grief over the death and expressed his sympathies to the bereaved family members. The Union Minister prayed Lord Jagannath for the speedy recovery of the injured and the salvation of the departed souls.(UNI)
