As many as six persons, including two children, died on the spot and five others were seriously injured when a speeding truck hit an auto-rickshaw in which they were travelling near Kotapeta village in Rayagada district on Tuesday. According to reports, 11 persons of Gadisahkhal village were on their way to Kotapeta to attend a marriage ceremony when the truck coming from Rayagada ran over the auto-rickshaw. The tragedy took place at about 1.30 am.
Following information, a team of the Chandili police station rushed to the spot and shifted the five injured persons to the District Headquarters Hospital here, where their conditions were stated to be critical. The bodies of the deceased were sent to the hospital for postmortem. Tension ran high in the area soon after the mishap as irate villagers staged a road blockade disrupting vehicular traffic. Till reports last came in, an armed police force has been deployed at the mishap site to take stock of the situation.