Chhattisgarh: 10 killed, four injured as SUV collides with truck
Ten people were killed and four others injured on Sunday when their SUV collided with a truck in Chhattisgarh's Rajnandgaon district. The accident took place in the early hours on Rajnandgaon-Durg road when the victims, most of them from one family, were returning after offering prayers at the Maa Bamleshwari Temple in Dongargarh town during the ongoing Navratri festival, a local police official said.
Collision occurred when SUV tried to overtake another vehicle
As per preliminary information, when the driver of the SUV tried to overtake another vehicle, it collided head-on with a truck coming from the opposite direction near Somni village, around 55 km from Raipur, the official said. Nine people traveling in the SUV died on the spot while another person succumbed to injuries while being taken to a local hospital, he said.
Police is now trying to trace truck driver who fled
A police team rushed to the spot and admitted an injured child to a hospital in Rajnandgaon while three other people were shifted to a hospital in Bhilai town, the official said, adding the victims hailed from Bhilai in Durg district. Efforts were on to trace the truck driver who fled the spot leaving his vehicle there, the official added.
One way of road was closed for movement of pilgrims
The Rajnandgaon-Durg four-lane road is part of the National Highway connecting Mumbai-Kolkata via Raipur and Nagpur. One way of the road has been closed for vehicles between Anjora village bypass in Durg and Rajnandgaon town for nine days of the Navratri festival to ensure smooth movement of pilgrims who go on foot to the Maa Bamleshwari Temple.
