Bhubaneswar, April 28: Two persons were killed in two accidents today in Mancheswar police station area.

While in the first case, a college girl was run over by a truck at the Rasulgarh Square around 8am, later in the day a young man died on the Kuakhai bridge after a tanker hit him from behind.

Eyewitnesses to the first incident said the victim, 19-year-old Sasmita Rath, a second-year graduation student of the Ramadevi Women’s College, was going to her college on a bicycle. The truck coming from Mancheswar hit and ran over her.

Sasmita’s family members said she had left her house in Palasuni around 7.30am as her examinations were going on.

“Half an hour after she left home, we got a call that she had met with an accident and her condition was serious. We rushed to the private hospital on the outskirts of the city where the police had admitted her. We rushed her to another hospital but she was dead by that time,” said Sagar, brother of Sasmita.

Sasmita was with another girl when the accident occurred. Her friend had a close shave. “The truck was going towards Kalpana Square when it hit the girls. While Sasmita came under the wheels of the truck, her friend luckily escaped,” said Rabi Sahu, an eyewitness.

After the accident, there was traffic jam on the road for nearly half an hour. Soon the Mancheswar police reached the spot and cleared the road.

The police seized the truck and arrested its driver Shyam Charan Singh, who would be produced in court tomorrow.

The police charged him under Sections 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way)/ 304 A (causing death by negligence) of Indian Penal Code.

In the second incident, a tanker hit 28-year-old Harekrushna Das on Kuakhai over bridge while he was riding his bicycle.

He was travelling on a cycle to his home in Bankuala from Pahala when the accident occurred. He died on the spot.

The tanker after hitting the cyclist fled from the spot. The Mancheswar police sent the body post-mortem.

Later the police seized the tanker from Rasulgarh area and arrested the driver.

“Two cases have been registered in Mancheswar police station in connection with today’s accidents. The drivers involved in both the cases would be sent to court tomorrow,” said a police officer.