Three dead in truck accidents across state

Three persons were killed in two separate road accidents in Nadia in the wee hours of Wednesday.

In the first incident, police said that a two-wheeler collided head on with a heavy truck that was heading towards Kolkata. The incident took place at Tentulberia in Chakdah.

A police officer said after speaking to local people that neither the rider of the two-wheeler nor the pillion rider were wearing helmets. Some other truck drivers who were present at an eatery in that area told the police that both the truck and the bike were moving at a very high speed.

Police suspect that the driver of the truck had fallen asleep on the wheel. At the same time, the driver of the two-wheeler became nervous as the heavy truck approached him at a high speed.

The truck hit the motorbike and rested only after colliding with a roadside railing. The other truck drivers initiated the rescue work along with some local people. Police soon reached the spot and took the driver of the bike – Bipul Das (22) and the pillion rider Samir Mallick (24) – to a local hospital where both of them were declared brought dead. The victims were residents of Ayeshpur in Haringhata and the accident took place when they were heading to the home of one of their relatives.

The driver of the offending truck has been arrested and both the vehicles were seized. The accident led to traffic congestion in the area.

In another accident, one person was killed when two trucks collided on National Highway 34 near Jagulia Kapa intersection in the wee hours of Wednesday.

Police said the driver of one of the trucks was killed in the collision.

A senior police officer said that such accidents at night take place as drivers fall asleep after working long hours at a stretch. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had launched a statewide "Safe Drive Save Life" campaign to check road accidents and it has helped in reducing the number of road accidents in the state. Now, the police are taking steps to ensure that drivers do not have to drive for long hours at a stretch.