Ganjam accident: Investigation underway after 5 deaths on Haladiapadar overbridge

Berhampur: A three-member crash investigation team of State Transport Authority (STA) on Sunday visited the site at Haladiapadar overbridge near here where a speeding truck rammed into three motorcycles on Saturday killing five persons. After the accident, commerce and transport minister Bibhuti Bhushan Jena had ordered an investigation by the team.“The team visited the site to enquire about different aspects of the accident, including fitness of the truck and if there was any fault of the driver and others,” said a senior transport officer. Regional transport officer (RTO) of Chhatrapur, Debasish Swain, said preliminary investigation revealed the truck had all valid documents.Police arrested the driver of the truck, identified as Pradeep Jani, 38, a resident of Gudiapalli, on Sunday. The driver had a valid licence. “We are enquiring into the cause of the accident,” said SP (Berhampur) Saravana Vivek M.The minister and Ganjam collector Keerthi Vasan V visited the houses of the deceased on Sunday. Besides consoling the family members, they also handed over Rs 4 lakh ex gratia announced by chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi.Surya Narayan Panda, 41, of Ayodhya Nagar, a courier service employee, Sibaram Jena, 35, of Gunthuband, Satya Narayan Bej, 40, of Khariaguda, Jagan Nahak, 20, and Rakesh Nahak, 22, of Phulta died in the accident. Jagan, who worked in a private company at Chennai, was scheduled leave on Saturday evening by train. He had come home on a 15-day leave and was scheduled to rejoin duty on Monday, family sources said.MP (Berhampur) Pradeep Panigrahy said faulty design of the railway overbridge led to frequent accidents. “We urged the chief minister to rectify the faults by submitting a letter on Oct 1 last year,” he said.