Five on bike killed in crash with truck in Jharkhand

RANCHI: Five persons including two children riding a single bike at Narayanpur in Pakur, 450km from here, were killed in a crash with truck on Thursday. Two women and two children were riding a bike besides a middle-aged man. “Two died on the spot, three succumbed to injuries at a local hospital,” Pakur SP Ajay Linda told TOI.
To spot five persons riding a bike is not very uncommon in Jharkhand’s countryside.“Hospitals and marketplaces are located far away from villages with negligible or no public transport system. The situation forces people to take risks,” a police officer said.
Emotions ran high after locals saw the dead bodies beneath the truck. Policemen who arrived to clear a road blockade near the crash site had to face public ire and stone-pelting. The chief of Muffasil police station had to leave the blockade site wen protests spilled out of control. Additional forces were brought to control the situation.
“The locals claimed that truck driver was under the influence of liquor. Driver managed to escape, the truck was seized,” Linda said.