Bihar: 5 of Champaran family die as truck overturns on auto

MOTIHARI: In a tragic accident, four women and a child of a family died on the spot when an overloaded sand-laden truck hit and overturned on a three-wheeler near Bariya Devi Sthan on NH-28A under Motihari Mufassil police station area in East Champaran district on Sunday afternoon.
CM Nitish Kumar announced the ex gratia payment of Rs5 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased.
Total 11 persons were travelling in the autorickshaw and going to Bairiya Devi temple to participate in a 'Shiv Charcha' programme on the birthday of Sujit Kumar (7), who also died in the accident. The other deceased were identified as Hemanti Devi (50), her daughter Kiran Devi (26), Kiran's mother-in-law Nilam Devi (53), Kiran's sister-in-law (nanad) Uma Devi (40). Sujit was the son of Kiran. They belonged to Rajepur in East Champaran district.
The drivers of both the vehicles fled the accident site. However, the police later seized the truck.
One of the survivors, Sushila Devi, told the media that the truck hit the three-wheeler when it was turning towards the Bairiya Devi temple. The truck then overturned.
Motihari accident: 3 undergoing treatment
The 48-year-old Sushila, who was injured along with Lakchhminiya Devi (45), Saloni Priya (20), Anita Kumari (23), Pushpa (7) and Baleshwar Paswan (45) said, "Some of us were thrown out of the autorickshaw while five of us were crushed under the pile of sand." "The injured were rushed to Motihari Sadar hospital. The condition of three are critical. They are undergoing treatment in the emergency ward," said Mufassil police station SHO Awanish Kumar.
Police sources said nine of the passengers were women. "Both vehicles were coming from Piprakothi side to Motihari. As the autorickshaw reached near its destination, its driver suddenly changed the lane, giving little time to the truck driver to apply his mind to control the situation. As the truck driver applied an emergency break, the vehicle overturned over the three-wheeler," the SHO said.