Two persons died while five others, including two women, were injured when a truck hit several vehicles in Rishikesh before colliding with another truck at Shanti Nagar crossing at around 10 a.m. on Tuesday.
The deceased have been identified as Ramroop, 30, resident of Rishikesh, and Kundan Sharma, 50, of Bihar who was currently living in Rishikesh. The injured have been identified as Ujjwala Devi, Sitari Devi, Radheshyam, Satish Kumar and Shishupal. Two persons died on the spot.
As per the eye- witnesses, the driver of the cement-laden truck lost control over the vehicle and the truck went on the deadly rampage, ramming two cars, a scooty and a bike, one after another, from behind. Later, it rammed headlong into another truck. The truck was impounded by police though the driver escaped. Police lodged a case after they received a complaint from one Gaurav Jain under sections 423, 279, 337,338, 427 and 304a of IPC against an unidentified driver in the Rishikesh police station.
They are on the lookout for the driver, said the Rishikesh police station officer.
As per preliminary investigation, the accident occurred due to break failure. “We are also investigating whether it is a case of drunk driving or not,” an investigating police officer said.