Jalpaiguri: Three tea garden workers were killed and at least 30 others injured when a pick-up van carrying them to work overturned at Nagrakata in Jalpaiguri district on Monday morning. The accident took place in the upper division area of Gatia Tea Estate, where the van lost control and toppled into a roadside ditch.
The deceased have been identified as Monisa Khalko (26), Monisha Nagasia (18) and Sundar Majhi (27), all residents of Kherkata and Khayerbari villages. Local people rushed to rescue the injured and took them to the tea garden hospital and Sulkapara Rural Hospital. Doctors declared three workers dead and referred 17 critically injured to Malbazar Super Speciality Hospital.
Block Medical Officer Dr Molla Irfan Hossain said: “Several of the injured sustained serious head injuries, so they had to be shifted immediately.”
Senior officials, including SDPO of Mal subdivision Roshan Pradeep Deshmukh, Nagrakata BDO Pankaj Konar and IC Kaushik Karmakar, visited the site to assess the situation. The incident cast a pall of gloom over the tea belt, with shocked families and co-workers gathering at hospitals.
Accidents during the daily transport of tea workers have become common in the Dooars. Labourers are often ferried in overcrowded goods vehicles, with 30 to 35 crammed into each van. Bags, tiffin carriers and baskets hang outside as the vehicles speed along highways, making the journey perilous.