In a tragic accident, seven persons from Rourkela and Biramitrapur were killed on the spot and another was seriously injured as a Scorpio jeep they were travelling in fell into Sarjana river near Khunti in Jharkhand late in Thursday night.
According to eyewitnesses, the incident took place at around 1 am when the victims were going to lucknow by the jeep in search of a missing girl. The driver lost control of the vehicle. Sources said Kedar Barik of Jagda, the owner of vehicle, was driving.
The deceased were identified as Pintu Sharma, Sushil Pandey, Ranjit Majhi, Bivas Ray & Shami Sahoo of Biramitrapur, Vicky Singh and Raju Mohanty of Vedavyas. The driver, who was rescued from the river in a critical condition, was rushed to a nearby hospital.
While the driver’s parents and sister rushed to Khunti, the families of other victims were accompanied by Biramitrapur MlA George Tirkey.