3 youth die as speeding SUV rams truck

Bhubaneswar: Three persons were killed, and another was seriously injured, after their car rammed into a truck on NH-16 in Khurda district, police said on Thursday.

The accident occurred on Wednesday night when the SUV hit the goods vehicle from behind near Pitapalli area near Bhubaneswar under the Info Valley Police Station limits, a senior officer said.

“The driver of the SUV accelerated while overtaking a vehicle and crashed into the truck. Three youths, who are in their 20s, died on the spot, while another was admitted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar in serious condition,” he said. The intensity of the accident was so severe that the front portion of the SUV got mangled, and the Fire Services personnel had to use cutters to retrieve the bodies from the vehicle, he said.

Their bodies were sent to Khurda government hospital for post-mortem examinations, the officer said. The deceased hailed from Bhubaneswar, he added. The incident was one of several serious accidents in Bhubaneswar, raising concerns about road safety and speeding on the Highway.

On Tuesday night, one person was killed and three others were injured in separate accidents in Bhubaneswar and its outskirts. In the first incident, a speeding SUV hit a motorcycle at Capital Hospital Square, Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police Jagmohan Meena said.

Out of the three persons riding on the motorcycle, one died while the other two were seriously injured in the accident, Meena said. “We have seized both the vehicles. The SUV driver is absconding. We are making efforts to arrest him,” he said. The deceased was a resident of the Old Town area. Family members alleged that the SUV driver was driving under the influence of alcohol.

In another accident on Wednesday, a speeding SUV collided head-on with a car in Chandaka police station area on the outskirts of the city, leaving one person injured, police said. Chandaka police officials went to the spot and admitted the injured to a hospital.