Three people were killed when a train rammed into a motorbike at an unmanned level crossing near Titidunguri in Balangir district on Tuesday at around 9 am. The accident occurred when the three members of a family of Gunjitara village were on their way to Titilagarh town by a bike.
The bike was hit by the Sambalpur-Rayagada Tapaswini Express killing all the three on the spot. The deceased were identified as Niranjan Sahu, his wife Nilendri and niece Puja Sahu.
Tension ran high in the area as local residents blocked the railway track demanding compensation to the family of the deceased. GRP personnel from Titlagarh rushed to the spot and sent the bodies for post-mortem and managed to pacify the enraged protesters.
Residents alleged that though it was an unmanned level crossing, the railway authorities had engaged a railway guard on duty. But there was no railway guard at the time of the accident.
Besides, it is very difficult to take notice of an approaching train as the unmanned level crossing is situated after a bend on the track, they claimed.
Expressing grief over the fateful incident, ECoR CPRO Jyoti Prakash Mishra maintained that efforts are on to convert all the unmanned level crossing to manned ones.