Just-Married Couple Among 7 Killed As Dumper Hits Car In Rourkela

Rourkela: In a heart-rending incident, seven members of a wedding party, including the just-married couple, were killed and two others critically injured after a speeding dumper coming from opposite direction rammed their car on National Highway No-143 near Lathikata here in Sundergarh district in the wee hours of Tuesday.

According to sources, the couple and seven others were returning to Fertilizer Area of the city after solemnising their marriage in Berhampur when the dumper going from Rourkela collided with their car head on.

While two persons died on the spot, five others, including a minor girl, succumbed to their injuries while undergoing treatment in a hospital here.

The victims were first admitted into the Government Hospital here and later shifted to Ispat General Hospital (IGS) when their condition deteriorated, sources added.

The deceased were identified as Susanta Panda (groom), his brother and sister-in-law, Sunita Panda (bride), her sister Srijita, the car driver and a videographer accompanying the marriage party.

There is widespread resentment among the residence of villages along NH-143 as the stretch seems to have become highly accident-prone with as many as 25 persons losing their life in a number of accidents while traversing through it in last two months, sources said.

The villagers have demanded effective measures to be taken by the district administration to check such tragic incidents so that precious lives can be saved.