Four artists coming from Jhalda district of West Bengal were killed when a mini-truck carrying them dashed on the railing of a bridge over Damodar River near Kothar in Ramgarh late on Tuesday evening. One is feared drowned in the strong currents of the river.
Police said that the mini-truck lost balance after the driver spotted a dead animal lying on the road and tried to save it by applying sudden brake on the vehicle. A total of 30 Chhau artists, on board in a Tata pick-up mini truck, were going to participate in ‘Manda’ puja at Kujju.
“Fourteen of them, sitting on the upper winch of the truck made of wooden planks and bamboo, got into the river due to a sudden jerk while one of them, Bhadru Mundu, died on the spot after he was crushed between the vehicle and the railing of the bridge,” said Ramgarh SP M Tamilvelan. Thirteen of the 14 drowned people were taken out safely while one of them, identified as Uttam Mahto, is still missing, added the SP.
The SP added that four of the 14 people saved from drowning were found to be serious and were immediately rushed to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), Ranchi.
“Three out of the four people admitted in RIMS were also declared dead later by the doctors,” the SP said. The incident took place at around 9.30 pm following which the police reached the spot immediately and rescued 13 of the 14 drowned people. “As the river was shallow near the bridge, four were injured seriously while others got drowned at a distance from where they were taken out safely.” Supposedly, the person who is still missing got traceless as he might have crossed the next bridge where the water was very deep,” the SP added.
He said that the rescue operation continued till 2:30 am in the midnight and again it was started at 5 am in the morning which was also continued for 4-5 hours.
“The rescue was quite difficult and took several hours as the water was quite uneven and used to rise immediately due to sudden rain in the nearby areas,” the SP said.
Those who are admitted in RIMS include Haridas Mahto, Madhusudan Mahto, Golak Mahto, Buddha Gorik, Barju Ram Mahto, Amal Singh Munda, Mithun Mahto, Suren Kalindi and Umesh Mahto.