3 killed, 18 injured in road accident in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh

Raigarh, November 8

Three people were killed in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district on Tuesday after the motorcycle they were riding collided head-on with a bus, which overturned following the crash, leaving 18 passengers injured, a police official said.

The accident took place in the afternoon near Samaruma village under Punjipathra police station limits.

The bus, heading to Jashpur from Raigarh, hit the motorcycle and then overturned. Two motorcycle-borne men, identified as Manoj Rathia (20) and Durgesh Rathia (16), died on the spot, while the third person, Prakash Manjhi (18), succumbed to injuries at the district hospital in the evening, he said.

The trio, natives of Jandabhri village, was returning home after visiting a fair in nearby Bhendra village, the official said.

Eighteen bus occupants suffered injuries when the vehicle overturned following the crash and they were admitted to the Primary Health Centre at Gharghoda, the official said.

Among them, a boy was later shifted to the Raigarh medical college’s hospital for further treatment in view of his critical condition, he said.

Police registered a case and subsequently arrested the bus driver, Gopal Ram, who had escaped from the spot after the accident, the official added.