Bhubaneswar, September 01: Six people were killed and 18 others injured in a road accident when a truck carrying about 55 labourers overturned and fell into Rengali left canal near Birasal village under Kankadahad block in Dhenkanal district last night.
While five bodies were retrieved from the canal last night, one more body, trapped inside the vehicle, was recovered today during the rescue operation.
Few more bodies were still trapped inside the truck, the sources said.
The rescue operation, which was hampered last night due to darkness at the accident site, resumed this morning with the arrival of a crane from Talcher.
Police said the labourers were returning from Kaliapali mines in Jajpur district after completing a construction work when the mishap took place after the driver lost control over the wheel while negotiating a curve near Birasal village on the canal road.
The truck fell into the 50 feet deep canal and many labourers were trapped inside the overturned vehicle. The local villagers, on hearing the accident, rushed to the site and rescued some labourers.
The villagers said while many labourers swam to safety, at least 18 workers rescued by the people from the canal were admitted at the nearby Kamakhayanagar hospital, four of whom were later shifted to the Dhenkanal District Headquarter Hospital and SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack as their condition turned critical.
The Dhenkanal District Magistrate and senior officials of the district rushed to the site to supervise the rescue operation.
Police apprehended that the toll would rise as few more bodies were seen by the rescuers trapped inside the truck.
Efforts were on to retrieve the truck and the other bodies from the canal.
So far, five bodies had been identified while one body recovered in a mutilated condition, which is yet to be identified.
—Agencies