Eight killed, two injured in road accident in Odisha

Jagatsinghpur: A truck collided with an auto-rickshaw killing eight people and seriously injuring two passengers in Jagatsinghpur district on Saturday.

The collision took place at Chandol near here when the victims hailing from Machhagaon were returning after attending ceremonial 'Snana Purnima' ritual at Nemala, Inspector in-Charge of Jagatsinghpur police station, Rajnikant Mishra said.

While seven persons, including a teenager, died on the spot, another succumbed to injuries at the hospital.

The injured were initially taken to the district headquarters hospital here and then shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack as their condition had deteriorated, the IIC said.

The driver of the truck fled from the spot and efforts were on to trace him.

Local residents staged a blockade on Jagatsinghpur - Machhagaon road near Chandol demanding adequate compensation for those killed and injured in the mishap. They also sought immediate arrest of the truck driver.

Police personnel were deployed in the area to maintain law and order and prevent any untoward incident.