Bhubaneswar: Two persons were killed after a car skidded off a bridge and plunged into Kusei river in Keonjhar district on Thursday. The mishap took place near Rasol village under Harichandanpur block.
The deceased have been identified as Pratap Das and Shivaswarup Rout of Dhenkanal town. The accident took place while four persons from Dhenkanal were on their way to Ghatagaon in Keonjhar to visit Maa Tarini Temple.
A rear wheel of the car suddenly detached, causing the driver to lose control. The vehicle then smashed onto the side of the bridge before falling off it.
On being informed, police and Fire Service personnel reached the spot and along with locals, rescued the injured, and rushed them to Community Health Centre at Harichandanpur, where two among them were declared brought dead. The injured, Samaresh Swain and Iswar Prasad Beura, were later shifted to District Headquarters Hospital for advanced medical care. Their condition is stated to be stable.
While the bodies have been sent to Anandapur Sub-Division Hospital for postmortem, police have launched an investigation to ascertain the circumstances leading to the accident.