Bolangir: A truck driver was charred to death Friday after his vehicle suddenly caught fire in this district. The ill-fated accident occurred at Dunguripali village under Gudvella block. Police, who have already reached the spot, are trying to ascertain the identity of the driver as the body has been burnt beyond recognition. The driver’s documents have also been reduced to ashes as it was in the man’s possession.
Sources said that the truck had reached Dunguripali after loading approximately 25 tonne cement from a godown in Jharsuguda. On reaching Dunguripali, the driver parked the vehicle in front of the storehouse of another cement dealer Arun Pradhan. The driver then climbed on top of the vehicle to unwrap the tarpaulin covering the cement. While he was untying the ropes, a three-phase electric wire snapped and fell on the truck.
The vehicle immediately caught fire. The driver meanwhile, trying to escape got trapped inside the tarpaulin cover. Tarpaulin being an inflammable material immediately caught fire and the driver was engulfed in flames and was burnt to death.
On receiving information about the accident, personnel from the Tusura police station reached the spot. They have sent the body for post-mortem and have lodged a case of unnatural death.