Five persons were killed and over 20 others injured, 10 of them seriously, when a mini truck in which they were travelling overturned near Mundaghati under the Tikiri police station in Rayagada district on Saturday morning.
A 709 mini truck was on its way to the Utkal Alumina complex at lachhuguda carrying over 30 labourers from Kutraguda when the driver lost control of the overloaded vehicle. While four labourers died on the spot, another labourer succumbed to his injuries at the Tikiri hospital.
The deceased were identified as Ishwar Majhi, Durba Majhi, Rankali Majhi and Dahu Majhi. However, the identity of the labourer who died at the hospital was not immediately known. Of the seriously injured labourers, four were admitted to the Rayagada District Headquarters Hospital while the others were admitted to the Kashipur and Tikiri hospitals.
looking at the critical condition of the seriously injured labourers, the death toll is feared to go up, reports said. “We neither know the contractor and nor the nature of work we were assigned,” said Dambaru Majhi, who was grievously injured.
