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The remains of the SUV after the accident. Picture by Biplab Basak
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Alipurduar, March 19: Eight persons returning from a wedding were killed when their SUV slammed into a bus while the car swerved to save a rickshaw van on NH31 near Banarhat this morning.
The car turned into a pile of mangled metal and plastic in the accident near Lakhipara Tea Estate. Three persons suffered injuries and are admitted to hospital.
All the dead and the injured were from Factory Line of Kathalguri Tea Estate and were returning home after attending a wedding in Kurti tea garden in Nagrakata. Most of the bodies were beyond recognition.
“A Mahindra Bolero was shuttling between Kathalguri and Kurti (54km apart). In the second trip, there were 11 persons, including the driver, on the car. The SUV was 14km from Kathalguri when it hit the bus near Lakhipara garden around 5.30am,” said a source at Banarhat police station.
Bishnu Minj who was riding a bicycle was a witness to the crash.
“A rickshaw van carrying illegal timber from a nearby forest suddenly took to the road from the side and the SUV changed its course. The driver lost control and the car collided with a bus coming from the opposite direction,” said Minj.
Hearing a huge sound, local people rushed to the spot and were shocked to see the condition of the car. “While the driver and three-four persons were inside, others were thrown out of the car. The entire spot was splattered with blood,” said a resident of Lakhipara, 82km from here.
None of the passengers on the private bus was injured in the collision. All the 11 persons were taken to Lakhipara garden hospital where eight were declared dead. They are Binod Oraon, 19, Punam Goala, 27, Shyamlal Oraon, 22, driver Dhaniram Oraon, 30, Chhatiram Oraon, 35, Shankar Oraon, 25, Suresh Oraon, 26, and Roshonlal Oraon, 18. Four of the deceased were tea garden workers.
Ramesh Oraon, 30, and Rameswar Mahali have been admitted to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. The third injured person, Amit Oraon, is at Banarhat Health Centre. All the eight bodies were taken to Jalpaiguri Sadar Hospital for post-mortem.
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