Five women and a child were killed and 21 others injured when a mini goods truck they were travelling in collided head-on with another big truck in Chhattisgarh’s Balodabazar district, police said on Monday.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has announced an assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased.
The accident took place late Sunday night near Gauda Pulia under Palari police station area, located 70 km from the state capital Raipur.
The victims, natives of Latua village, were returning after attending a family function in Parsada village, a senior police official said.
Their pickup truck collided head-on with another truck. Five women and a six-year-old boy died on the spot and 21 others were injured, five of them critically, the police official said.
The deceased have been identified as Dhaneshwari Fekar (35), Prabha Nayak (18), Agar Bai (60), Shanti Fekar (60), Hema Dhruv (20) and Ghanshyam Fekar (6), he said.
The critically injured persons were shifted to a hospital in Raipur for treatment, while the 16 others were undergoing medication at a hospital in Balodabazar, he said.
The CM expressed grief over the incident and in a tweet said the district administration officials have been directed to provide all possible assistance to kin of the deceased and medical treatment to the injured.
“I announce an assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the family of each of the deceased," he added.
(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed)