In a shocking incident, five girls were killed and 14 others injured as a pick-up van they were travelling in hit a lamp post at Sashangda village under Bodam thana area in Patamda, on Friday morning.
The accident took place when the victims were returning home at Moharbasa in Bodam after attending a village fair at Sashangda at about 4 am.
Those killed were identified as Basanti Hansda(20), Rupali Soren(15), Arti Hembram(14), Sunamuni Soren(14) and Salashi Mardi (11), all residents of Mohrabasa village in Bodam.
All the injured were rushed by the police and villagers to MGM Medical College and Hospital emergency. At the medical college hospital, five of the injured were admitted where as the remaining injured were released after first-aid.
Those admitted at the medical college hospital were identified as Chhabirani Soren (42) Sonamuni Mardi(16), Saroj Nag(35), and Nilmuni Mardi(13) and Maheswar Mahato(45).
The family members of Sonamuni shifted her to Tata Main Hospital as her condition was extremely serious. She has received serious head injury beside multiple injuries in both of her hands.
According to the information, the driver of the van was drunk. As the van was at a high speed, the driver could not control the vehicle after a bike rider came in the way, causing him to hit into a lamp-post at Sashangda village on Bodam-Patamda Road, near the venue of the fair.
After the collision, the van overturned and rolled down the road. As it was dark and there were very few people on the road, the injured could not get immediate medical. They were finally carried to the hospital in police vehicles at about 5.30 am.
Officer-in-charge, Bodam thana, Rajesh Ranjan said the driver of the pick-up van ran away but they succeeded to arrest him from adjoining Paharpur village.
“We gathered information from the injured that the driver was drunk and he managed to jump off the van before the vehicle hit into the pole. As he was drunk, he could not control the vehicle and caused the mishap,” said Ranjan.
The officer-in-charge said the driver, who has been arrested, was identified as Vishnupado Hansda(19), a resident of Mohrabasa village.
One of the injured said that he is in state of shock and everything happened all suddenly. “While traveling we noticed that the driver was drunk, I had warned him not to drive fast. But the moment I asked him to drive slow, he suddenly picked up the speed and rammed into a light pole hardly,” he said.