11 people killed, 12 injured in pickup van-truck collision in Chhattisgarh

At least eleven people were killed while several others were injured when a pickup vehicle they were travelling in collided with a truck in the Baloda Bazaar district of Chhattisgarh, police said on Friday.

"The pickup vehicle collided head-on with the truck. The incident took place at village Khamariya under Bhatapara (rural) police station limits," Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDOP) Bhatapara Siddhartha Baghel said.

According to the SDOP, the pickup vehicle was returning from a function when it was hit by a truck at Arjuni leaving 11 persons dead while around eight others were injured.

"With the help of locals, the injured were immediately taken to a nearby hospital while some of them were referred to Raipur for better medical assistance," said the officer.

Police have registered an offence in connection with the accident and launched a probe, the SDOP further informed.

In a similar accident, as many as seven school children died while a child and an auto driver sustained injuries after an auto-rickshaw carrying school children collided with a truck in Chhattisgarh's Kanker district on February 9, an official said.

The accident occurred near Korar village which is nearly 20 kilometres away from the district headquarters on Thursday. The injured were admitted to the district hospital.

As soon as the incident occurred, the nearby people informed the police about the incident. Acting on the information, the police rushed to the spot and immediately sent them to the hospital.

Kanker CMHO (Chief Medical and Health Officer) Avinash Khare said, "There were eight students travelling in the auto-rickshaw. The students were returning to their homes from school. During this, an accident occurred with a truck in which five children died on the spot and two more children died on the way to the district hospital."

"One child is in critical condition but we have made him stable and referred him to Raipur. The condition of the auto driver is stable," CMHO Khare added.