18 women tendu leaf collectors killed in mishap
May 20, 2024 22:08
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Nineteen tribals, including 18 women, were killed and three others injured when a mini goods vehicle ferrying a group of tendu leaves collectors plunged into a valley in Chhattisgarh's Kabirdham district on Monday afternoon, the police said.
As per preliminary information, a brake failure led to the major accident, they said.
The accident occurred at around 1.45 pm on Banjari Ghat near Bahpani village under Kukdur police station limits, Kabirdham Superintendent of Police Abhishek Pallava said.
The victims were returning home after plucking tendu leaves from a forest in the vehicle meant for transporting goods, he said.
As per preliminary information, when the vehicle, with 36 people onboard, was descending in Banjari Ghat (valley), the driver shouted that the brakes have failed following which many male occupants and he himself jumped off, the IPS officer said.
The vehicle veered off the road, tumbled down 40 feet and crashed onto a road below the valley, the official said. On the other side of the road where the vehicle crashed there is a 200 feet deep gorge, he said.
After being alerted about the accident, teams of health personnel from nearby Kukdur and Pandariya and a police team rushed to the spot and launched a rescue exercise, Pallava said.
"Twelve women and a man were killed on the spot, while nine others sustained injuries. Five women of the nine injured succumbed while being shifted to a hospital," he said. The remaining four injured persons, including three women, were shifted to Kabirdham district hospital where a woman succumbed, the SP said.
Senior district administration and police officials visited the accident spot.
A case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder will be lodged against the vehicle's owner and the driver, the SP said.
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