In a tragic incident, two persons died when a pickup van by which they were travelling dashed against a roadside tree on NH-55 near Gargadbahal village under the Jujumura police limits in Sambalpur district early on Thursday morning.
The deceased were identified as Ranjan Matihari of Sambalpur and Sangram Behera of Telenga Bazaar in Cuttack, both employees of the Ashok leyland company.
According to reports, the duo was returning from Puri by the pickup van after repairing a bus. One of them, who was driving the vehicle, lost control over the wheels, following which it dashed into the tree.
Both died on the spot under the impact of the collision, sources said. On being informed, police reached the spot and recovered the bodies.