Bhubaneswar: In a tragic incident, two people were killed while 30 sustained varied degrees of injuries after the tourist bus they were travelling by skidded off a bridge near Panchubati in Sadar police station area in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district in the wee hours of Monday.
According to initial reports, the driver of the tourist bus named Nilamadhab lost control of the wheel and the vehicle plunged into a canal after crashing against the bridge’s railing.
Both the passengers who died in the accident are women and have been identified as Renubala Jena and Bijayalakshmi Swain – residents of Ichhapur village in Kendrapara district. The victims breathed their last on the spot.
Local villagers and police rushed the injured to the Dhenkanal district headquarters hospital. Later, as the condition of the 15 injured deteriorated, they were shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. The condition of a few is stated to be critical.
The bus is said to be transporting 43 passengers who had gone on a picnic tour to Bolangir and Sambalpur from Ichhapur village.
The police seized the bus and launched an investigation into the road mishap.
