Rourkela: A 20-year-old truck driver was burnt alive after two trucks collided head-on and one caught fire at Ratanasara under Hemgiri police station limits in Sundargarh district early Thursday. The victim was identified as Manish Kumar of Bihar.Around 4am, an iron-laden truck heading towards Raigarh in Chhattisgarh collided with another truck travelling from Bankibahal towards Hemgiri to load material. The impact triggered a fire in the Hemgiri-bound truck, trapping the driver inside the cabin, who was charred to death. Fire services personnel reached the spot and doused the blaze but the vehicle was almost gutted.Hemgiri police reached the site to recover the body. Tension prevailed in the area as the deceased’s relatives and other drivers demanded compensation of Rs 12 lakh for Kumar’s family. Staging a road blockade, they refused to allow the body to be removed for post-mortem. Police were engaged in negotiations to restore normalcy.The other truck overturned after the crash and its driver sustained minor injuries, for which he was admitted to the Hemgiri community health centre. Hemgiri police registered a case and launched an investigation. “We have registered a case and the investigation is underway,” said IIC, Hemgiri police station, Manoranjan Bisi.
