Baripada: A home guard died while four others, including an IIC, sustained critical injuries after a ‘108 ambulance’ crashed into a police van near Petrol Pump Chhak at Udala in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district late on Monday.
The deceased home guard has been identified as Laxmidhar Mahanta.
According to sources, the speeding ambulance, which was returning after dropping a patient in Baripada, rammed into police van parked along the road. Such was the impact of the collision that the police van turned turtle thrice. It is being suspected that the ambulance driver was on his phone and was unable to notice the police van.
While the home guard died on the spot, four others, including an IIC, were grievously injured. The driver, pharmacist and helper in the ambulance also suffered injuries and were admitted to Raghunath Murmu College and Hospital in Baripada for treatment. The injured ICC had to be shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack after his condition deteriorated.
