1 killed as bus ferrying Odia migrants from Gujarat meets with accident

At least one person was killed and several others were injured, one of them seriously, when a bus ferrying Odia migrant workers from Gujarat met with an accident in Odisha's Ganjam district on Saturday night, police said.

The accident took place when the bus, transporting over 55 passengers including women and children, dashed against a roadside guard wall while negotiating a curve in Durgaprasad area, Bhanjanagar Sub-Divisional Police Officer S S Mishra said.

DIG of Police (Southern Range), Satyabrat Bhoi confirmed the death of one person and serious injuries to another in the accident that took place on a hilly road along the border of Ganjam and Kandhamal districts.

Around 40 others sustained minor injuries in the accident, he said.

Transport Minister Padmanabha Behera said the bus was carrying migrant Odias stranded in Gujarats Surat due to the nationwide lockdown.

They were returning to Bhanjanagar and other places in Ganjam district, he said.

The minister said seven buses coming from Surat were moving in a convoy and one of the vehicles met with the accident.

Fire services, police personnel and local volunteers launched a rescue operation, the SDPO said, adding that the injured persons were rushed to hospitals.

Kandhamal district Superintendent of Police Prateek Singh said arrangements are being made to send the rescued passengers to different quarantine centres in Ganjam district.