Two killed, six hurt in Bengal as vehicle going to Maha Kumbh collides with truck on NH19

Kolkata, Feb 20 (IANS) Two persons were killed and six people were severely injured following a horrific road accident at Kulti in West Burdwan district of West Bengal late on Wednesday night after a vehicle carrying passengers to the Maha Kumbh at Prayagraj collided with a truck on the National Highway.

According to the Assistant Commissioner of Police (Kolkata) of Asansol-Durgapur Police Commissionerate, Jabed Hossain, the accident took place on National Highway (NH)-19 when the passenger vehicle collided with a truck at full speed from behind.

“The passenger vehicle was coming from Bankura and was going to Prayagraj. As far as the latest information available, two passengers travelling by that vehicle have died.

“The speed of the passenger vehicle was quite high. Further investigation is on,” he added.

Eyewitnesses said that the truck suddenly stopped in the middle of the road to change the lane on National Highway-19 near Kulti and during that period the passenger vehicle collided against the truck from behind.

The impact of the collision was such that the passenger vehicle was totally mangled.

The police seized the passenger vehicle as well as the truck. The driver of the truck and his assistant are, however, missing.

The two deceased persons have been identified as Shantanu Mukhopadhyay (65) and Sailen Bandopadhyay (60). Their bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

The six others injured in the accident are Sourav Mukhopadhyay, Manasha Mukhopadhyay, Ananya Mukhopadhyay, Rumpa Bandopadhyay, Siluli Karmakar and Somnath Chakraborty.

The deceased and injured persons are all related to each other.

Chakraborty was the one who was driving the vehicle at the time of the mishap.

All of the injured have been admitted at a local hospital where they are currently undergoing treatment. The condition of Siluli Karmakar is extremely critical, informed a Commissionerate official.

–IANS

src/rad