Two trucks catch fire after plunging from Bangiriposhi ghat, drivers charred to death

In an early-morning road mishap, an oil tanker and a container truck fell into a 20-feet gorge on Bangiriposhi ghat in Mayurbhanj district on Thursday.

Following the mishap, the oil tanker caught fire charring the driver to death. The charred body of the other driver was found crushed below the container truck.

Fire fighters from Bisoi and Bangiriposhi were pressed into action who doused the flame and recovered the charred bodies of the drivers.

As per reports, both the trucks were moving towards Baripada from Keonjhar through Bangiriposhi ghat, when they both lost balance and fell off the ghat into a 20-feet gorge. While the oil tanker caught fire first, it soon engulfed the container truck too.

It is pertinent to mention here that the 17- km long stretch near Dwarasuni in Bangiriposhi ghat on the NH-49 in Mayurbhanj district connecting Mumbai with Kolkata has the ill-reputation of being a death trap with the narrow stretch of highway being bloodied in mishaps that occur almost every other day.

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Notably, the unforgiving stretch on NH-49 has taken as many as 39 lives in the last two years and rendered over 300 commuters critically injured or maimed.