Tragedy struck as five persons were killed and seven seriously injured in a head-on collision between a van and a crane (vehicle used for lifting heavy objects and vehicles) at Khairboni village on Tata-Chaibasa Road under Rajnagar police station in neighbouring Seraikela-Kharsawan district at around 3.30 pm on Wednesday.
According to information the overloaded van carrying villagers to their villages from weekly haat in Rajnagar took a temporary halt alongside road for some villagers to relieve near Khairboni village when a crane coming from Chaibasa towards Jamshedpur collided against van.
“The accident has been massive as the van overturned. The crane driver managed to run from the spot immediately after the mishap. We reached the spot in less than 10 minutes to find five persons who had died on the spot and rushed the injured seven to MGM Hospital in Sakchi for better treatment. The villagers travelling in the van were returning home from attending weekly haat at Rajnagar,” said Rajnanagar police station officer, Vedanand Jha.
Those who had died at the spot have been identified as Jondo Bardha (Telgo village) and Malti Gope, wife of Ravi Gope (Khairboni village), Jongo Pingua (Soso village), Bari Tuddu and her five year old son Basi Tuddu (both Bita village). All the deceased were in the age group of 30 and 35 year. The injured who have been rushed to MGM Hospital have been identified as Kanhuram Banra (Hathisereng village), Jagannath Hansda (Kita village), Boti Gope and his wife Sabitri Gope (both Bita village), Sungi Samad and Situa Zarika (both Sinni village) and Sumitra Mardi (Kita village).
Meanwhile, villagers blocked the Tata-Chaibasa road demanding compensation for those killed and injured in the accident. However, the police team managed to persuade the protesters to remove blockaded.