Chhattisgarh: On way to attend CM event, two die in truck crash in Dantewada

Two people died and six were seriously injured in a collision involving three trucks in Dantewada on Sunday. Residents of tribal villages of Kuakonda area were travelling on these trucks to attend a programme of Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel at the district headquarters, 30 km away.

A CCTV video shows one of the trucks, driven by Masa Oyami (46), ramming into a stationary one at the Nakulnar police station chowk, before crashing into a house. Oyami, who succumbed to his injuries, was allegedly drunk, police officers said. The impact on the stationary truck was so severe that it turned turtle while ramming into the third truck.

The truck driven by Oyami, officials said, was coming from Badehadmamunda village in Kuakonda block. The other deceased person, Joga Oyami (36), is from the same village. More than 70 people were admitted to two hospitals in the district. Around 20 of them have been discharged. “Three people have sustained head injuries, two are seriously injured and four have sustained grave injuries,” a district official said.

The district officials paid Rs 2 lakh each to the families of the deceased. “We have recorded the damage done to the house, and will follow due procedure,” SDM Prakash Bharadwaj said.

The villagers were on their way to attend an event organised by district authorities where Chief Minister Baghel inaugurated and announced projects worth Rs 600 crore. He also announced a colony for the families of Maoist-affected tribals named after the late Mahendra Karma, a Congress leader from Dantewada who was among the several party leaders killed in the 2013 Jhiram Ghati attack.