5 devotees killed, 5 injured as SUV collides with truck in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district

Ambikapur: Five Shiv devotees, including three minors, were killed and five others injured when their SUV (sports utility vehicle) collided with a truck in Chhattisgarh’s Surguja district on Wednesday, police said.

Locals set the truck on fire after the driver fled the spot leaving behind the vehicle.

The incident took place around 1 pm near Vishunpur village under Sitapur police station limits when the victims were returning to Revapur village after offering prayers at a Shiv temple in Kilkila on the occasion of Mahashivratri, an official here said.

The SUV, a Bolero, collided with the truck coming from the opposite direction, he said.

Four persons, identified as Rajkumar Agaria (55), his daughter Anjali (25), Suraj Agaria (14) and one-year-old boy Mahi, died at the scene, the police official said.

Six injured persons were rushed to the Ambikapur Medical College hospital, where doctors declared one of them, identified as Ayush (12), dead on arrival. The remaining five injured persons are being treated at the hospital, he said.

Police have registered a case and efforts are on to trace the truck driver who abandoned his vehicle and ran away, he said.

Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai expressed grief over the accident and directed the district administration to provide medical assistance to the injured, an official statement said.

He also expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and wished for the speedy recovery of the injured, it added.