The ill-fated bus at the accident spot at Godiapokhari near Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, Sept. 1: Two persons were killed and around 30 others, including some tourists from Bengal, sustained injuries when three vehicles collided with one another on National Highway 203 at Godiapokhari in Pipli police station area on the outskirts of the city today.

The condition of six injured, who are undergoing treatment at the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack, is stated to be critical.

The accident occurred around 11am when a speeding Maruti Omni car coming from the direction of Puri tried to overtake another vehicle in which tourists from Bengal were travelling.

As the Omni overtook the other vehicle, it came face-to-face with a passenger bus coming from the opposite direction. Eyewitnesses said all the vehicles were moving at high speed and the collision threw them off the road.

The accident held up traffic on the road for more than an hour. Later, Pipli police rushed to the spot and removed the vehicles involved in the mishap.

It took another half an hour to normalise traffic flow on the road, which connects Puri to the capital city. The police and local residents rushed the injured to the nearby hospital and later to Cuttack.

Riya Pal, who was returning from Puri with her family in the car, said the other car while trying to overtake their vehicle came in front of the bus, which was approaching from the opposite direction.

“First the car hit our vehicle and then collided with the bus. Some of my family members were thrown out of the vehicle,” said the 15-year-old girl who sustained minor injuries.

The accident left her mother Gayatri, 50, aunt Deepali and sister Arpita, 22, nursing serious injured. While Gayatri and Deepali Pal sustained severe head injuries, Arpita’s hand was fractured.

They were taken to the S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital. Riya’s father, uncle, cousin and grandmother also had sustained minor injuries.

She said her family hailed from Kasba in Calcutta and had been in Puri since last Friday. They were returning to Calcutta today. One of the injured Soumendra Das, a resident of Pipli, died on way to Cuttack. He was travelling in the ill-fated bus.

Sarat Patasani, the driver of the car that was overtaking the tourist vehicle, died at S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack this evening. The accident occurred as Patasani tried to overtake the tourist car near Godiapokhari Turning.

Bank employee Manaswini Jena, who was returning to her home in Pipli, also suffered severe injuries and is admitted to S.C.B. Medical College and hospital.

“This turn has become an accident-prone stretch,” said Satya Mallick, a local resident. Amulya Champatiray, inspector in-charge of Pipli police station, said: “As some persons were trapped under the bus, cranes were brought to rescue them. We also cleared the traffic jam on the road within a few minutes,” he said .