Bhawanipatna: As many as 5 farm labourers were killed and 25 others seriously injured as a pick-up van carrying them overturned in Odisha’s Kalahandi district on Sunday evening.
According to sources, around 60 farm labourers, mostly women, from Micha and Atipada villages under Junagarh police station in the district had gone for farm work in Durguda village under Golamunda block in the morning. They were engaged in replantation of paddy saplings for ensuing Kharif crop.
While they were returning in the pick-up van after completing the day’s work in the evening, the vehicle turned turtle at Dokaripada square. While three labourers died on the spot, 30 others were injured in the accident.
The locals rushed to their rescue and informed the police. With their help, police and Fire personnel rescued the injured passengers and admitted them in hospitals at Dharamgarh and Junagarh.
Later, two injured labourers succumbed during treatment in the hospitals while those in critical condition have been shifted to the district headquarters hospital at Bhawanipatna.
