Kolkata, March 21 -- In a tragic road accident, four persons were killed and two are critical after they fell down on the Panchanantala Road from the ramp of Nivedita Setu after a pick-up van toppled owing to a tyre malfunction.
The incident took place on the wee hours of Friday while six small businessmen, dealing in garments, were going to Ankurhati of Howrah. According to police, around 3:30 am on Friday, the businessmen from Habra in North 24-Parganas were going to Ankurhati haat to sell garments. They had loaded their sacks with garments on the back of a pick-up van and were sitting on them. While the pick-up van was moving towards the toll gate along the Nivedita Setu toll way, one of the tyres malfunctioned and exploded.
Due to the impact, the driver lost control and the pick-up van toppled on the down ramp towards the toll gate near Lalbari underpass. As a result, the six persons fell down on the Panchanantala road from the ramp which is more than 30 feet high.
Police and toll plaza employees launched a rescue operation. All six of them were rushed to Uttarpara State General Hospital where four persons Md. Kabir Ata, Kaiyam Atta, Alil Mondal and Prasanta Pal were declared brought dead.
Among the two critically injured, a youth Rakesh Saha was shifted to a private hospital in Golabari area of Howrah. The other injured person Shivam Saha was shifted to RG Kar Hospital.
Police have registered a case and started a probe to ascertain the cause of the malfunction. It suspected that the tyre might have worn out or the air pressure in it was excessive which might have caused the explosion.
However, a mechanical test might be conducted to ascertain the exact cause.
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.