Bhadrak: A series of accidents on National Highway 16 in Odisha’s Bhadrak district claimed one life and left five injured late on Monday.
According to sources, a bus, which was travelling from Balasore to Bhubaneswar, hit a truck near Rahaanj square under Gramanchal police limits on NH-16 in Bhadrak. Another truck coming at a high speed hit the bus, causing it to veer off the road. A pick-up van car
rying alcohol, then rammed into the truck from behind. The driver of the pick-up van died after being trapped inside the mangled remains of the vehicle for around 2 hours.
Fire services personnel recovered the body of the deceased driver. Most of the passengers in the bus along with the truck drivers luckily escaped with minor injuries. The injured were admitted to district headquarters hospital here, and two among them later referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack due to the severity of their injuries.
The pile-up reportedly took place around 2 am, when it was raining heavily with thunderstorms in Bhadrak.
There was temporary disruption of traffic on NH-16 till police managed to restore normalcy. An investigation is underway to ascertain the circumstances leading to the accidents.