Bargarh: Four labourers died while another was critically injured when the truck under which they were sleeping ran over them as the driver was reversing the vehicle at Birjam village under Melchamunda police limits in Odisha’s Bargarh district late on Wednesday.
The deceased, identified as Fagan Singh Dhubey (34), Vishnu Merval (23) and Shankar Adabasi (21) pf Madhya Pardesh and Rajesh Kumar Netam (20) of Chhattisgarh. The injured, Damarabel Hira, also in his 20s, was to VIMSAR-Burla from district headquarters hospital here after his condition deteriorated.
They were employees for a borewell company.
According to sources, the accident took place on the farmland of one Sushanta Biswal when the truck driver, oblivious of the men sleeping under it to escape the biting cold, reversed the vehicle to share fuel with the drilling vehicle parked alongside.
Police have seized the vehicle and detained the driver, Seenivasan Sitharaman (49) of Tamil Nadu, for questioning. Further investigation is underway.
