Two school children died and 10 others were injured today when a van in which they were going to school overturned after hitting a roadside tree near Asulpur, about 40 km from here in Cuttack district.
Police said the van was carrying students beyond its capacity and the heavy fog in the morning must have blinded the driver.
"The driver, however, absconded from the spot after the accident and efforts are on to nab him," said the local Mahanga police station police inspector S S Tripathy.
The condition of other injured students are stated to be stable and they have all been discharged after getting first aid in the local hospital, Tripathy said, adding that the two deceased were six-years-old and studying in Class I of a nearby public school.
Soon after the mishap, hundreds of ire parents and guardians blocked the Cuttack-Chandbali state highway for over an hour demanding adequate compensation to the parents of the deceased.
