Makar Sankranti Tragedy: Fog and Speed Claim 5 Lives in Gumla

Gumla: Five persons died and one sustained injuries when the pick-up van that they were travelling in was hit by a truck from the rear near Bhadgaon village under the Bharno police station limits on NH-23 on Thursday.

They were on way to Gumla from Dhurwa in Ranchi to sell tilkuts on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, police said.The accident might have happened due to low visibility resulting from morning fog and speed, police added.The officer in-charge of the Bharno police station, Kanchan Prajapati, said, “The deceased were identified as Baleshwar Sahu (48), the owner of a grocery shop in Dhurwa; Sunil Kumar Sao (30) and Sanjay Kumar Bhuiyan (22), both residents of Keradari in Hazaribag, one Bajrang Kumar (38), whose address is yet to be known.

An unidentified person died at Paras hospital in Ranchi, where he was referred to from a hospital in Sisai.

Baleshwar, who hailed from Tandwa police station limits of Chatra district, had hired five persons to sell tilkut. The autopsy of all the deceased was done at Gumla sadar hospital.”The injured trader was discharged after being administered primary treatment at a govt hospital in Sisai. The truck has been seized, police said.