Fog leads to car-truck collision, six killed

Our Correspondent

Abohar/Sriganganagar, Dec 7

Five women and the driver of a Bolero van were killed as it collided with a truck due to dense fog on the Pallu mega highway near Hanumangarh on Monday.

The victims, who belonged to Bhairusari village, were going to attend the ‘bhog’ceremony of a relative in Dungargarh. They started to travel at 9.30 am but thick fog had not receded till 11 am when the mishap occurred.

The deceased were identified as driver Lala Ram Jat (60), Reshma (65), Kamla (46), wife of Devi Lal, Kalavati (30), Kamla (35), wife of Kanha Ram, and Seema (50). Their relatives, Bhagirath (40) and Hanuman Yadav (50), were shifted to a government hospital in Sardarshahar.

The police said that truck driver fled, leaving the vehicle behind, but his assistant had been taken into custody for investigation. In another mishap, Sukhwinder Singh, a resident of Sadiq Shiwali village, died as an unidentified vehicle reportedly hit the motorcycle he was riding. The deceased, a photographer, was returning to Jaitsar after attending a marriage function in Chak 12-A village.