At least 30 bus passengers and a driver were injured as an oil tanker dashed head-on with an OSRTC bus near Batisuan village on NH149 at 3.30 pm on Wednesday near Pallahara. The bus No. OD19T3856 was going from Angul to Baripada.
Being informed, Pallahara IIC Parao Tudu rushed to the spot and shifted the injured persons to the Pallahara Sub-Divisional Hospital. Tanker driver Krushna Biswal was among the injured. Biswal and one Malalaya Patra were shifted to the SCB Medical College Hospital, Cuttack, as their conditions grew critical. The other injured passengers were given preliminary treatment in the Pallahara SDH and later were discharged. Pallahara MLA Mukesh Pal was present at the spot.