Bhubaneswar: Two women died and nine others sustained injuries when a pickup van carrying labourers was hit head-on by a speeding highway truck at Kumelbandh on the Boudh-Kandhamal border on Thursday.
According to reports, the labourers were travelling from the Kuchinda area of Sambalpur to Balandapada in Kandhamal for road construction work when the accident took place. The collision was so severe that two women labourers died on the very spot. The nine injured workers were rushed to a nearby medical facility for treatment.
Following the accident, Kantamal police reached the scene and initiated an investigation. The truck driver responsible for the collision fled the scene and remains at large.
Police are continuing their probe to ascertain the cause of the accident and locate the absconding driver.
