Four Odia Pilgrims Killed and 35 Others Injured In Jharkhand Bus Accident; Ex-Gratia Announced

Jharkhand: In the early hours of Sunday, an accident was reported from the Katkamsandi area in Jharkhand’s Hazaribagh district, where four pilgrims from Odisha were reportedly killed.

According to reports, two of the deceased were from Balasore and two others were identified as Menaka Pradhan and Manu Behera from Angul.

After visiting several pilgrim sites in Uttarakhand and Bihar, the bus was en route to Odisha from Gaya. Sources reveal that 55 passengers from Odisha were aboard the ill-fated bus when it collided with a fruit-laden truck in the Harazibagh district of Jharkhand.

Consequently, four people aboard the bus died and about 35 others suffered severe injuries.

Authorities have started the formalities to retrieve the bodies of the deceased and hand them over to their families.

Odisha CM, Naveen Patnaik on Sunday announced that the relatives of those killed in the mishap would get an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each.

The CM, further, urged the Mayurbhanj district collector to work with the Jharkhand government to ensure that the wounded get proper medical care.