10 killed as speeding truck crashes into two autos

Ten people were killed and four others seriously injured when a speeding truck collided with two auto-rickshaws near here in Madhya Pradesh this morning, police said.

Most of the accident victims were labourers, the district collector said.

Among the injured is a three-year-old child whose condition is very critical, Badwara police station Sub- Inspector (SI) B Dwivedi told PTI.

The accident took place around 10 AM near Majhgavan, about 15 km from the district headquarters, he said.

Dwivedi said the truck driver lost control over the vehicle and collided with an auto-rickshaw in which four people, including its driver, were travelling.

The truck then crashed into a larger auto-rickshaw coming from the opposite side. Ten people, including the driver, were travelling in the second auto-rickshaw, the officer said.

The truck was being driven at a high speed, Dwivedi said.

Eight people died on the spot, while two others succumbed to injuries in a hospital, Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Hari Om Sharma said.

The truck's driver fled the spot, Sharma said.

He said that a case was registered and the matter in being investigated, Sharma said.

Katni Collector K V S Choudhary said Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan has announced a compensation of Rs 1 lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each to the injured.

He said three of the injured were admitted to a hospital in divisional headquarters Jabalpur, while the fourth one was being treated in the Katni district hospital.

Choudhary said the victims were local residents and most of them were labourers engaged in the construction sector.

They were heading towards the Katni city for work, the collector added.