Ranchi, July 9: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha MLA Nalin Soren and his son had a narrow escape this morning when his Ambassador rammed into a truck stranded on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur highway, killing his bodyguard on the spot and leaving the driver seriously injured.

The MLA from Sikaripara, Dumka, was on his way to the capital when the accident occurred near Rampur in the Namkum police station area at around 4.30 am.

While Soren and his son, Alok, escaped with minor fractures, bodyguard Sanath Murmu died on the spot. Driver Vinay Baski, who suffered multiple head injuries, is still not out of danger.

?Probably, the driver of the car did not take notice of the truck since there was another vehicle coming from the front that did not use the dippers. This almost blinded him for a second. The truck was loaded with construction rods, some of which pierced the windscreen and pinned the bodyguard to the seat. The driver was also injured but still alive. All were rushed to the RIMS,? said a senior official of the Namkum police station.

Soren, however, claimed the accident had occurred because the truck had suddenly slammed the brakes.

?The truck was moving and it came to a halt suddenly. The driver could not brake on time,? he said, promising compensation for both.

Opposition leader Sudhir Mahto, Speaker Inder Singh Namdhari and Jharkhand Vikas Morcha leader Stephen Marandi rushed to RIMS in order to check on him.