At least seven people were killed and 17 others seriously injured in two road accidents in Sambalpur and Dhenkanal districts on Wednesday and Tuesday.
Three persons were killed and eight others sustained serious injury when a speeding truck hit three youths standing by a road near Sasangadia by-pass in Sambalpur on Wednesday. All the injured persons were rushed to the VSS Medical College, Burla.
In another mishap, four persons were killed and nine others were seriously hurt, when a Scorpio SUV was hit by a speeding truck at Jhargadia near Dhenkanal town on Tuesday night. According to reports, 13 youths from Dharampur village of Talcher were on their way to Puri in a Scorpio SUV when it collided head-on with a speeding container at a curve near Jhargadia. The impact of the collision was so severe that the SUV overturned for about seven to eight times before falling inside a roadside ditch.
While one of the youths died on the spot, the locals rescued the seriously injured passengers by cutting the roof of the SUV with crow bars and cutters and rushed them to the district headquarters hospital in an ambulance van in a critical condition. However, three youths succumbed to their injuries in the wee hours on Wednesday.