An overcrowded auto-rickshaw overturned near Gara village under Pattamundai block in the district on Saturday morning, killing a Class-II girl student of the Saraswati Sishu Mandir at Oupada.
Three other persons, including a woman teacher, were injured in the mishap.
Reports said the auto-rickshaw carrying about 20 students was going from Gara to the school. The incident took place when a cow tied with a rope suddenly came in front of the vehicle.
“The auto-rickshaw overturned multiple times after hitting the rope to which the cow was tied. All others managed to come out of the vehicle, but the deceased girl Laxmipriya Swain got stuck inside the vehicle,” said a teacher, who was also travelling in the vehicle.
The auto-rickshaw driver fled from the spot following the incident. Later, irate locals set the vehicle on fire.
All the injured students were rushed to the Pattamundai Sub-Divisional Hospital.
The woman teacher held the school authorities responsible for the mishap that occurred due to overloading in the vehicle.
“Many a time, I had raised the issue with the school Pradhan Acharya, but the school authorities turned a deaf ear to it,” she alleged.
The Pattamundai police registered a case on the basis of an FIR lodged by the deceased girl’s uncle Devendra Swain and started an inquiry into the incident.
