Keonjhar: Five people were killed and nine critically injured when a 12-wheeler truck ran over a marriage party at Sathighar Sahi near National Highway 20 under the Keonjhar police limits in the district in the wee hours of Wednesday.
Of the five deceased, two are from the Harichandanpur block in the Manpur area, while the remaining three are from Satighar Sahi, Keut Sahi, and Lashmipad Sahi areas under Keonjhar Town police limits. The nine critically injured were rushed to the Keonjhar district hospital. Three of them were later shifted to a medical facility in Cuttack as their condition deteriorated further. The identities of the deceased and injured are yet to be ascertained.
The daughter of Kartik Patra, a native of Sathighar Sahi, was to get married to Hemanta Patra, son of Hadibandhu Patra of Manpur village under Harichandanpur block.
According to reports, the accident occurred when the groom and the marriage party accompanying him were going to the bride’s house in a procession. Suddenly, a speeding truck appeared from nowhere and ran over the procession at around 1.30 am just a few meters away from the bride’s house.
While five people died on the spot, nine others were seriously injured. On being informed, police and Fire Services personnel rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to the district headquarters hospital.
As the news of the accident spread, tension gripped the area with the local residents demanding the arrest of the driver of the killer truck and compensation to the kin of the deceased and injured.
