At least five persons were killed and 16 others sustained injuries in separate road accidents in Cuttack, Jajpur and Dhenkanal districts on Tuesday.
A speeding container truck hit an iron-laden stationary trailer from rear on NH-16 near Bainchua village in Cuttack district killing the driver and helper of the truck. Fire Services personnel and police recovered the bodies from the mangled vehicle using gas cutter and sent the victims to the SCB Medical College Hospital, Cuttack, for postmortem.
In another incident, a person died and 15 others were injured when a bus by which they were travelling rammed into a truck from rear on the Brahmani river bridge under the Dharmasala police limits in Jajpur district.
The bus, carrying more than 50 tourists from Dum Dum in West Bengal, was on its way to Puri when the mishap took place at around 5 am. The driver of the bus reportedly could not see the goods-laden truck due to low visibility owing to foggy conditions.
The helper of the bus fell off the vehicle after the collision and died on the spot. Police reached the place, rescued the injured ones and admitted them to the Dharmasala hospital for treatment. Both the vehicles were seized by police.
In Dhenkanal district, a tanker and a truck had a head-on collision on NH-55 near Baladiabandh Square killing both the drivers on the spot. The helper was critically injured and admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital.