Ten women and an eight-year-old girl were killed and 29 others injured when a matador van, in which they were travelling, turned turtle after colliding with a truck trailer in Chhattisgarh’s Balod district, a senior police officer said on Thursday. The occupants of the vehicle were returning after attending a marriage function when the accident occurred near Armurkasa village under Dallirajhra police station limits around 1.30 am on the intervening night of Wednesday and Thursday, SP Balod Sheikh Arif Hussain said, adding the matador van was heading towards Dallirajhra from Bhaiyahar village.
“The vehicle overturned following a severe head-on collision with the trailer truck coming from the opposite direction between Kusumkasa and Armurkasa villages, leaving 10 women and a minor girl dead on the spot,” the SP said. The deceased were identified as Sumrin Bai Halba (50), Mombai (45), Prembai (40), Meenbai (45), Dasribai (50), Rambai (60), Sakita (40), Pawara (25), Sumin (45), Neminbai (35) and her daughter Satachhi (8), he said.
This apart, 29 passengers were injured, five of them critically, in the incident, Hussain said. After getting information about the mishap, a police team along with medical aid reached at the spot and the injured were shifted to a local hospital, he said, adding that the five who were seriously injured have been shifted to Durg.
Meanwhile, police have registered a case in this connection. The Balod district administration has sanctioned an immediate financial aid of Rs25,000 for the next of kin of each deceased. State Chief Minister Raman Singh has expressed profound grief over the incident. He extended condolence to the grief stricken families of the deceased, an official Press release said. The Chief Minister has prayed for speedy recovery of the injured and instructed officials concerned to provide best possible medical facilities to injured people.