At least two people died while over 30 others were injured after a pickup van ferrying them for a wedding skidded off a bridge and fell into a gorge on Sunday noon. The heart-wrenching incident has been reported from Khatlapadar Bridge under Kundura police limits in Koraput district.
The condition of six persons among the 30 injured was stated to be critical, as per reports. The vehicle was stuck mid-way in the bridge, leading to the mishap, reports said.
The exact reason for the mishap was yet to be ascertained, whether the vehicle was overloaded or the accident was caused due to the rash driving of the driver. While locals claimed that four people had died, there was no official confirmation in this regard.
On being informed, firefighters and an ambulance rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation.
According to sources, the injured were from Dalapur village and were on their way to attend a wedding. The vehicle driver is yet to be identified as he has fled from the spot after the mishap. Many eyewitnesses claimed the driver was in a drunken state.
All the injured have been admitted to Kundura community health center (CHC). The critical will be shifted to Jeypore or Koraput after preliminary treatment at the CHC.
Jeypore SDPO Tapaswini Kahanr said, "A pick-up van carrying about 40 people of a wedding party faced an accident at noon. They were going to Ursapalli. Two of them died on the spot. As many as 35 people were injured while six of them were critically injured. The injured were hospitalised."