10 killed, 11 injured as pick-up van collides with tanker in Anand

Vadodara/ Anand: Ten persons were killed and 11 others injured when the pick-up van in which they were travelling collided with a tanker in Anand district on Tuesday afternoon.
According to Anklav police, the accident happened around 3.35 pm on the stretch between Gambhira chowkdi and Gambhira bridge near the state highway in Anklav taluka.
The victims, most of them factory workers, were returning to their villages in Borsad taluka of Anand district from Vadodara district where they were working in a private firm, police said. Those dead and injured belong to Pilodra and Sarol villages. They had hired the pick-up van from Muvad crossroads of Padra in Vadodara to reach Sarol and other adjacent villages in Anand when they met with the accident. The tanker was moving from Borsad to Vadodara.
While eight persons had died on the spot, one succumbed on way to hospital and another died during treatment at SSG Hospital in Vadodara, police said.
The pick-up van was loaded with as many as 22 people. After the accident, the injured were shifted to a private hospital in Borsad and SSG Hospital in Vadodara through 108 emergency ambulance service.
The tanker driver fled the spot after the accident
Anklav police which had reached the spot, had hard time managing the crowd that had gathered in large numbers near the spot of the accident. The backside of the pick-up van was badly mangled due to the accident, indicating that the tanker might have rammed it from behind.
While police is ascertaining identity of all the dead and injured, post-mortem of the deceased is being conducted before handing over the bodies of the victims to their relatives. Most of the injured were shifted to SSG Hospital in Vadodara for further treatment while a couple of them are hospitalised in Borsad.
Chief minister Vijay Rupani expressed grief over deaths and announced ex-gratia of Rs two lakh each to the kin of the victims from the CM relief fund.
The CM also issued directives to Anand district collector to ensure proper arrangements for treatment of the injured.