11 killed, 42 injured after truck overturns in central India

At least 11 people were killed and 42 others injured, some of them critically, after a mini-truck carrying them overturned Monday in central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, police said.

The accident took place near Neechi village on Jabalpur-Chargawan road in Jabalpur district, about 317 km east of Bhopal, the capital city of Madhya Pradesh. The deceased were identified as agricultural labourers.

"This morning in a road accident here 11 people were killed and 42 others injured after a rashly driven mini-truck lost balance and overturned on road," M S Sikarwarn, a senior police officer told Xinhua over telephone from Jabalpur. "The injured were immediately removed to hospital."

Police officials have registered a case and initiated investigations to ascertain cause of accident.

"Preliminary investigation revealed the driver was negligently driving the vehicle at a much higher speed," Sikarwarn said. "The vehicle was also overcrowded with people working as agricultural labourers."

Reports said following the deadly accident, driver of the mini-truck jumped out of his vehicle and fled from the spot.

The death toll according to health officials was likely to increase owing to critical condition of many of the injured in accident.

The local government has announced compensation of 1536 U.S. dollars to the families of each killed in the accident and 150 U.S. dollars to each of the injured.

In separate road accident during the day in northeastern state of Manipur 10 people were killed and 25 others injured after a bus fell into a stream.

Deadly road accidents are common in India often caused due to overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.

India's ministry of road transport in 2015 said 146,133 people were killed and 500,279 others injured in 501,423 road accidents across the country.

Global Road Safety Report 2015 released by WHO last year however said India accounts for more than 200,000 deaths annually due to road accidents.

 
source: Xinhua