The ambulance and the truck at the accident spot near Simulia in Balasore. Telegraph picture

Balasore, June 5: Nine persons, including eight tourists from Bengal, were killed on the spot after a speeding lorry ran over them near Simulia in Balasore early in the morning today.

The tourists, residents of East Midnapore district, were on their way from Purushottampur to visit the Jagannath temple in Puri.

Eyewitnesses said the victims were travelling in a bus. The incident happened when they alighted from the bus apparently to attend to nature’s call near Jamujhadi in the Simulia police station area. The lorry, which was coming from behind, ran over the group. The lorry driver and helper abandoned the vehicle and ran away from the spot.

The deceased included Dipak Si, 40, his wife Samali Si, 36, Tapan Bera, Ashish Tripathy, Gurupada Sasmal, Abha Maity and Khukhu Maity (all in their mid 40s), Laxman Pal, 52, and the bus helper, Bidhan Debnath.

Eyewitnesses said the lime-laden truck had first hit a stationary ambulance and then ran over the passengers. Finally, the vehicle hit the tourist bus, which was parked on the highway. However, neither a woman patient, who was in the ambulance, nor the passengers inside the bus sustained any serious injury.

“Around 3.10am, the bus stopped near Jamujhadi. Some of the passengers alighted from the bus. We suddenly heard a loud sound. Before we could understand, we found the fellow passengers, knocked down by a lorry,” said Somnath Dhada, a passenger of the tourist bus.

“Hearing screams, roadside shopkeepers rushed to the spot and alerted police,” said Dhada.

“My wife and sister-in-law had alighted from the bus. Both of them were run over and killed,” said a grief-stricken Sudarshan Maity. “We are waiting to receive the bodies after post-mortem and return home,” he said.

Some of the injured were given first aid at government hospitals in Soro and Simulia and then shifted to district headquarters hospital.

“We have sent the passengers to their native places by a special bus. Besides, we would send the bodies by ambulance,” said Pradipta Kishor Mohapatra, sub-collector in charge of Balasore.

Sources said East Midnapore MP Gurudas Dasgupta had deputed his party cadres to Balasore to oversee the arrangement of carrying the bodies and bus passengers back home. “On the instruction of our MP, we have come here,” said Agnisar Maity.

On October 9 last year, seven tourists from Bengal and the driver of their car had also died in a crash near Simulia on their way to Puri.