Three persons of a family died and five other persons were grievously injured when a vehicle in which they were travelling hit a stationary truck from behind near the Kandarpur market, seven km from here late on Wednesday night. The dead included a woman and a six-year-old girl, who died on the spot.
The police said they found it extremely difficult to rescue the travellers of the mini passenger carrier which had rammed into the truck and was badly mangled. All the injured and deceased were brought to the SCB Medical College Hospital.
A family of Balia village in Jagatsinghpur district was returning to their native place from Dhamnagar in Bhadrak district when the tragedy occurred. “The driver of the ill-fated vehicle was either sleepy or could not see the lorry parked on the roadside and hit it from behind,” said a policeman.