Keonjhar/Bhubaneswar: At least 11 people were killed and around a dozen sustained injuries in four separate road accidents across the state, on the first day of the ‘Zero Fatality Week’, Friday, police said. While eight people, including three women and a child, were killed and eight others injured when the van in which they were travelling rammed into a stationary truck in Keonjhar early Friday, three others died in separate road accidents in Bhadrak, Anandpur (Keonjhar) and Sambalpur districts.
Referring to Friday morning accident on National Highway 20 near Balijodi village in Ghatagon area of Keonjhar, police said it took place when the van in which around 21 people, including the driver, were travelling hit a stationary truck. The victims, all from Pudamari village in Ganjam, were on their way to Goddess Tarini temple. While seven people died on the spot, another succumbed at a hospital. Five of the injured people were undergoing treatment at Keonjhar district headquarters hospital, while three others were shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack as their condition deteriorated.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik expressed grief over the incident and announced that an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh will be paid to the next of kin of each deceased. It is suspected that the driver dozed off leading to the accident that took place barely three km away from the temple. 5T (transformation initiatives) and Nabin Odisha programmes chairman V K Pandian also spoke to the district Collectors of Keonjhar and Ganjam to facilitate coordination and help the victims, an official release said.