4 dead, 1 fighting for life in Nayagarh tanker explosion

BHUBANESWAR: Four persons were charred to death and another severely injured following an explosion in an oil tanker after it plunged from a bridge and fell into a stream, 40 feet below, in Nayagarh district, late on Friday night.
The deceased have been identified as Dipu Khatua (26), Samir Nayak (24), Pankaj Nayak (21) and Chandan Khatua (23). The injured, identified as Deepak Samantray (23), has been shifted from Nayagarh district headquarters hospital to SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, in critical condition.
Police said two oil tankers from Paradip were going towards Nayagarh, 80 km from here. The tanker that was in front lost control and hit the fence of the bridge at Pandusara and fell. The driver and helper of the other tanker rushed to rescue the accident victims. While they were trying to rescue them, the tanker exploded, killing the drivers and helpers of both the vehicles.
T he injured was a member of the second tanker and had gone to rescue the accident victims. “The charred bodies have been retrieved and sent for postmortem,” said Alekh Pahi, SP (Nayagarh). Police said they are trying to identify the injured. “It was late night and there were no eyewitness at the time of the accident,” the SP added.