ROURKELA: At least four persons, including three drivers and a helper, died, and over 20 passengers were injured after a private passenger bus jumped the road divider and crashed into a truck on National Highway 143 near Chandiposh under Bonai sub-division of Sundargarh district on Tuesday night. While 19 injured are undergoing treatment in different hospitals, two of them are extremely critical. Chandiposh police have started investigating the deadly accident on Wednesday. A private passenger bus carrying passengers was travelling from Rourkela to Jajpur on Tuesday night. Around 9.10 pm, the bus jumped the road divider at Musabira on NH-143, about 2 km from Chandiposh police station, and crashed into a Hyva truck coming from the opposite direction near Chandiposh village. The impact was so severe that the front portion of the bus rammed into the front of the Hyva truck. After receiving information, Chandiposh police reached the spot. Police personnel had to break open the emergency door to enter the bus and, with the help of locals, rescued the injured passengers. Firefighters rushed to the spot and carried out rescue operations with the help of police and villagers. Ambulances were called, and firefighters used gas cutters to extricate the body of the truck driver and the critically injured helper of the truck, as well as two bus drivers and a helper. The two drivers and one helper of the bus were brought out after much effort from the mangled bus and were found dead. Over 20 injured passengers were rescued and taken to Rourkela Government Hospital (RGH) for treatment. The critically injured bus helper was also shifted to RGH. Some passengers with minor injuries were discharged after primary treatment. At present, 12 injured persons are admitted at RGH. One critically injured person has been shifted to a private hospital, and six others have also been shifted to private hospitals. Of these six, two are reported to be in critical condition in the ICU. Two minor children, aged 2 and 6 years, who sustained minor injuries, are undergoing treatment at RGH. Of the four deceased, two were bus drivers, one was a bus helper, and the fourth was the driver of the Hyva truck. Their identities are yet to be confirmed. Police have contacted the bus owner, who hails from Jajpur. Once he reaches Rourkela, the identities of the deceased bus staff will be confirmed. One bus driver was from Rourkela, while the other driver and helper were from Jajpur. The truck driver was a native of Bihar. Police are yet to ascertain the circumstances under which the bus jumped the divider. Vehicular movement on the route was severely affected on Tuesday night, but the damaged vehicles have been moved to the roadside to restore traffic on NH-143. “Both the bus and Hyva truck have been seized by us and we are investigating under what circumstances the bus jumped the divider and crashed into the truck,” said S Khamari, Inspector-in-Charge, Chandiposh police station.
