Sambalpur: Drivers of a bauxite-laden truck and an LPG tanker were charred to death when the two vehicles caught fire after a head-on collision on NH 55 near Jujumura in Sambalpur in the early hours of Saturday.
According to sources, the accident took place while the truck was on its way to Rairakhol from Sambalpur. The two vehicles immediately caught fire after the collision.
Jujumura Fire Service personnel were called in but they failed to douse the flames. Later, personnel of Sambalpur Fire Service rushed to the spot after getting a call at 4.15 am and it took them about three hours contain the fire.
Following gas leak from the tanker, vehicular traffic on either side of the National Highway was stalled as a precautionary measure. Efforts were on to remove the mangled remains of vehicles to facilitate traffic. movement.
While charred bodies of the two drivers were found from inside the vehicles, the helpers were nowhere to be seen, the sources added.
