Dhenkanal, Sept. 29: Two persons, including a seven-year-old girl, were killed and nine children were injured when the autorickshaw ferrying them collided with a bus near Satmailai Chhak in Hindol police station limits here today.

The accident occurred on State Highway No. 11 linking Bhubaneswar to Angul via Rasol.

The Hindol police said the autorickshaw carrying 11 students of Khajuriakata Saraswati Sishu Mandir was on its way to drop the children after school. The accident took place when the auto was about to cross the Satmailai Chhak.

A private bus coming from the opposite side hit it, killing a student and the auto driver, Arun Sahu, on the spot.

The seven-year-old has been identified as Swarnalata Behera, a Class II student. Nine other students were injured, two of them seriously. All of them were rushed to SCB Medical College and Hospital.

"All the kids and the auto driver were from the same locality. The private bus was on its way to Athagarh from Angul. It appears that the bus driver, in order to avoid a road side tree, took a right turn and hit the auto," said officer in charge of Hindol police station Dasarathi Rath.

The bus driver and the helper are absconding.

Local residents staged a road blockade demanding compensation for the two victims. The blockade was lifted after the district administration paid Rs 10,000 to the families of each victim.

Kidnap bid foiled

A bid to kidnap a 12-year-old girl while she was on her way to school on Tuesday was foiled by villagers of Buguda in Berhampur.

Police have arrested one person and detained four others involved in the incident.

Eyewitnesses said a gang members came in a motorcycle and sprayed some chemicals on the girl while she was on her way to school. When she became unconscious and fell on the road, other members waiting in a Bolero (No. OR18B 6675) pulled her into the van and fled from the spot.

The villagers chased the kidnappers, stopped the Bolero and rescued the girl. They nabbed the five members and handed them over to the police.

Ganjam superintendent of police Narasingha Bhola, who visited the spot, said the cops had arrested the driver Ravi Kumar, who hails from Tikiri in Rayagada district.

"We will take action after recording the statement of the girl, who is undergoing treatment at the MKCG Hospital in Berhampur. The condition of the girl, who was earlier admitted at Buguda Hospital, is stable," Bhola said.

Two of the detainees are wanted in a case of kidnapping in Angul. "A clear picture will emerge once we talk to the girl," said inspector in-charge of Buguda police station Ranjan Kumar Dey.

Additional reporting by Sunil Patnaik in Berhampur