As many as five women engaged in road construction work lost their lives and eight other persons sustained critical injuries in a road mishap at Ramabahal Chhak on the Biju Expressway at Rajgangpur of Sundargarh district on Wednesday.
A speeding car jumped the divider of the road and hit the walking women workers before ramming into an SUV on the other side of the road. While two women died on the spot, three others were declared dead at the Rourkela Government Hospital. Two other woman workers, three occupants each in the car and the SUV sustained critical injuries in the mishap. They have been shifted to Rourkela hospital. The car was on way from Rourkela when it hit the SUV coming from opposite direction. There were seven occupants in the car and the SUV, sources said.
Rourkela Government Hospital Chief Medical Officer S Kabi Satpathy said, “Three women brought to the hospital were declared dead on arrival while two others died on the spot.”
“We are crossing the road after being dropped by a vehicle at the construction site when the car hit us in the middle of the road. Subsequently, it hit an SUV,” said a woman injured in the mishap.
Later, police reached the spot and began an inquiry into the incident.