Jajpur: Five people including a woman were killed and 40 others were injured, some of them critically, after a passenger bus fell off a flyover on National Highway-16 near Barabati in this district, Monday evening.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed grief over the deaths and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased. Two persons died on the spot while three others breathed their last while undergoing treatment, chief district medical officer (CDMO) Sibasish Moharana informed.
Most of the passengers were trapped under the bus when the vehicle (OD-02-BJ-8599), toppled over. The AC sleeper coach was travelling from Puri to Haldia in West Bengal. Dharmasala police launched rescue operations with the help of locals. Initially the injured passengers were rushed to the district headquarters hospital here. Later 30 of them were shifted to the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack after their condition deteriorated. The toll may rise as the condition of five of the injured are very critical, doctors said. Jajpur SP Vinit Agrawal and other officials rushed to the spot and supervised the rescue operations.
A total of 16 ambulances and five cranes were pressed into service to rescue the passengers and transport them to the hospital.