Six tourists, including four women, were killed when the bus they were travelling in overturned following brake failure near Kalinga Ghati, a hilly road, in Odisha’s Ganjam district on Tuesday, May 24, 2022, night.
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The condition of one tourist was stated to be critical. The identity of deceased tourists could not be ascertained.
As many as 50 tourists had come from Howrah district of West Bengal for sightseeing in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh. They set out from Howrah on May 23. On Tuesday, they spent whole day in Daringbadi, a tourist place in Kandhamal district.
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After dinner at a roadside eatery about 11.30 p.m., they began their journey to Visakhapatnam. The bus had almost covered the serpentine Ghat road of Kalinga when the driver came to know that brake was not working. He told the cabin organiser to inform the tourists that they should hold the vehicle tightly as the bus was heading for an imminent accident.
At the end of Ghat road, the driver lost control over the vehicle which hit roadside poles before overturning. Several tourists were caught under the bus. The Bhanjanagar police of Ganjam district immediately rushed to the site and began rescue operations. The bus was lifted by a crane and the unconscious passengers were pulled out of the bus.
Those injured were rushed to the Bhanjanagar hospital which subsequently referred the critical patients to the MKCG Medical College Hospital, police said.