The bus that collided with a truck and (above) people gather at the accident spot. Telegraph pictures

Sambalpur, Nov. 3: Ten persons were killed and 20 others injured in a road mishap at Babubandh on NH-53 in Burla police limits, 18km from here.

The mishap took place when a truck collided head on with a bus at Babubandh, resulting in the death of six people on the spot. Four injured persons succumbed to injuries on their way to VSS Medical College and Hospital.

The deceased were identified as Ramachandra Mahana and his wife Godabari Mahana of Ainthapali in Sambalpur, Nilachal Hota, Gokula Dash, Doly Behera, Shibani Nath, Runikanti Saraf, Chhedilal Sen, Laxmi Mohanty and Nityananda Kar (all from Bargarh).

Confirming 10 casualties, Sambalpur SP Nikhil Kanodia said: “It appears that the two vehicles were running at very high speed. Both the drivers seem to be at fault.”

According to eyewitnesses, the truck ran into the bus to save a person who was on the road. All the passengers sitting on the driver’s side of the bus either died or were injured. “I was asleep on the extreme left of the last row and woke up to a loud thud only to discover that two men sitting in our row were lying dead in a pool of blood. The remaining three escaped unhurt. The right side of the bus was badly damaged killing at least six on the spot. Local residents shifted the inured to hospital,” said Ashok Pradhan, a passenger who had escaped unhurt.

“The bus was running at a very high speed. Some of us were lucky,” said Pradhan. Twenty people have suffered severe injuries. The condition of 12 of them is stated to be serious. The seriously injured were identified as Pappu Sahu, Bairagi Sahu, Prafulla Pradhan, Jogesh Bhoi, Rabindra Bhoi, Sumanta Seth of, Ananta Majhi, Kunja Dei, Batuli Behera, Reeta Chhhatria, Raghunath Bhoi and Ranu Nath. “The bus driver took an unexpected turn, which made the truck dash into the back of the bus. The truck driver is at large,” said Pappu Sahu, cleaner of the truck.

“We heard a loud sound and rushed to the spot. By the time we reached, six passengers had died on the spot. The entire stretch of road from Bargarh to Sambalpur is in bad shape. This which is a major reason behind frequent accidents,” said Asimananda Sarangi, a local resident of Babubandh.