Eight workers were killed and seven others were injured early on Saturday when a speeding passenger bus carrying them rammed into a truck on the outskirts of Chhattisgarh’s state capital.
Raipur Senior Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Yadav told The Pioneer that the accident took place at around 3.30 am near Serikhedi village on National Highway-53.
The tragedy occurred when the bus, carrying 75 workers to Gujarat from Odisha, rammed into the rear of the truck when it was taking a U-turn.
Eight bus passengers died instantly and seven sustained critical injuries, the SSP said.
The deceased have been identified as Ballu Dakua (45), Sushant Swai (40), Kailash (36), Narayan Gur (27), Yudhishthir Nayak (24), Vishwanath, Tapan Nayak (20) and Sameer Mahanmunda (17).
The injured included Sanyasi Yadav (42), Ballu Swai (33), Tukuna Jena (30), Chitra Swai (22) and Babu Goda (9).
After some time, a police team reached the spot and the injured were shifted to a government hospital, the officer added.
All 75 workers hail from Ganjam district in Odisha and they were going to Surat in Gujarat to work in cloth mills.
A case has been registered against the unidentified truck driver who escaped.
Chhattisgarh Governor Anusuiya Uike and Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel expressed profound grief over the incident.
Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik too expressed deep grief and announced ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh each to the kin of the deceased. He also directed free medical treatment for the injured.
