Chhattisgarh road accidents claim ten lives in 24 hours

RAIPUR: Ten people, including three women returning from a weekly market and three members of a family travelling in a car, were killed in separate road accidents in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja and Janjgir Champa districts within 24 hours, underlining a grim spell of road tragedies in the region.The more dramatic of the crashes unfolded on Sunday evening on NH-130 near Bhittikala village where a speeding Scorpio SUV ran over four women walking along the roadside after returning from the weekly market. Three of them — Rambai (50), Munni Bai (40) and Shyampati (35), all residents of neighbouring Jogibandh village — died on the spot, while another woman suffered injuries and was admitted to hospital.Eyewitnesses said the SUV, allegedly moving at high speed, went out of control, ploughed into the women and then continued ahead before crashing into an oncoming trailer.

The impact triggered panic and outrage in the area.Locals caught hold of the driver and allegedly thrashed him before police reached the spot. He suffered serious injuries and was admitted to Lakhanpur community health centre.The deaths sparked angry protests, with villagers placing the bodies on the highway and blocking traffic for nearly three hours. The protest led to a traffic jam stretching to five km, severely disrupting movement on the route.

Police later pacified the protesters after assuring action, cleared the road, and sent the bodies for postmortem. In the second accident, which took place in the early hours of Monday near Sakalo forest in Gandhinagar region, a couple and their 25-year-old son were killed after a truck collided with their car.The deceased were identified as Kailaram Toppo (52), his wife Manimati Toppo (50), and their son Rahul, while their driver, Sonu Kerketta, suffered serious injuries and was admitted to a hospital.Preliminary investigation suggested the family was returning home to their village from Ambikapur when the truck coming from the opposite direction rammed into their vehicle.In another accident in Ambikapur, two young men died after an auto-rickshaw collided with a pickup vehicle near Manipur police station around 8.30 pm on Sunday. Both occupants of the auto suffered critical injuries in the crash. They were rushed to hospital where they succumbed during treatment.In Janjgir Champa's Baloda region, a head-on collision between a car and a Bolero SUV in Buchihardi village led to the death of a father and his son.Police said the duo was returning from a wedding when their car met with an accident. The impact forced the car off the road, where it overturned.