In a tragic incident 9 persons were killed and 6 others remained seriously injured after a speeding pickup van rammed into the railing of an under construction bridge on Simdega- Ranchi Road on Monday midnight while it was returning from a marriage party at Kamdara in Simdega towards Bangru-Koliadamar village in Kolebira.
Taking cognizance of the incident, Chief Minister Raghubar Das immediately announced Rs 1 lakh each to the family members of the deceased persons and also directed the district administration to make all arrangements for treatment of injured persons.
Meanwhile, immediate assistance of Rs 20,000 each to each of the family of those who were killed in the incident was handed over to them on Tuesday itself.
“A total of 9 people have died in the incident which took place late in the night on Monday when a pickup van having 18 persons on board rammed into one of the pillars of a newly constructed bridge at Kolebira,” said Simdega SP Sanjeev Kumar.
Seven died on the spot while two of them succumbed to their injuries while being taken to the hospital, he added.
Kumar further added that the PCR van, which was patrolling nearby, rushed to the spot immediately after it was informed and rescued the injured persons and sent them to the nearby hospital, he added.
“The injured persons have been admitted to the nearby Biru Hospital while one of them has been referred to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences,” said the SP.
The driver, however, was not located there who fled away immediately after the accident, he added.
Referring to the reasons behind accident, Kumar said that it was not clear but prima facie it appeared that over-speeding might had been the reason behind it. He said that investigation was on and anything could be said only after it gets completed.
People who lost their lives include Yoram Kerketta, Vilson Baghwar, Illias Kerketta, Oscar Ba, Anmol Indwar, Kuldeep Horo, Ujjawal Dungdung and Vinod Tirkey.
Das, expressing condolences on the incident, said that God might give enough strength to the family members of deceased persons to withstand the grief.
Remarkably, after the marriage people who had gone to attend the party decided to return to their village in the night, while the groom along with his family stayed back to perform some rituals in the morning.