Bhubaneswar, April 15: Two youths died and another sustained injuries when a sand-laden truck hit a motorcycle at Mundasahi Square near Biju Pattnaik College in Jayadev Vihar area today. The Nayapalli police have arrested the truck driver.

The deceased were identified as Pabitra Moharana (20) and Bulu Senapathy (21) while the injured youth was identified as Saroj Behera (20). Sources said all the three were students and hailed from Cuttack.

Eyewitnesses said the truck was going from Jayadev Vihar Square towards Ekamra Kanan. At Mundasahi Square, three youths coming on a motorcycle from Mayfair side turned towards Jayadev Vihar.

The truck hit them head-on killing Pabitra on the spot while critically injuring Bulu and Saroj. Bulu succumbed to his injuries later at the Capital Hospital. Saroj is still under treatment there.

“It was raining. We saw the truck hit the motorcycle. It ran over one of the youths killing him on the spot while the other two sustained serious injuries. The truck then tried to speed away,” said Samaresh Sahu, a shopkeeper.

But while trying to escape, the truck hit an ambulance coming from the opposite direction and was forced to stop. The ambulance was damaged in the accident though there were no casualties.

The local people dragged the truck driver out and thrashed him. They also damaged the truck.

Before they could cause any further damage the police reached the spot and took the driver into custody. The police also took the injured to the hospital.

“As the youths were not from Bhubaneswar, we are trying to ascertain their whereabouts,” said a police officer. The bodies of the deceased have been kept in the hospital morgue.