Seven killed in Hazaribagh as trailer rams pick-up van carrying a body to Varanasi

A speeding trailer rammed into a pick-up van that had pulled over near Mahanetand, in the Danua valley stretch of Hazaribagh district, Jharkhand, on Monday, November 9, and seven people were killed. More than a dozen others were hurt.

The crash happened at about 10:30 am, under the Chouparan police station area. The van was carrying 19 people, including the driver, and a body: the family was taking the remains of 90-year-old Kunjo Prajapati from Bagodar block in Giridih district to Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh for the last rites. The van had stopped at the roadside so that the rope holding the body in place could be tightened. The trailer hit it from behind, and the van overturned, throwing several passengers onto the road.

The toll

Dr Raj Kishore of Sheikh Bhikhari Medical College and Hospital in Hazaribagh said that five people died at the scene, one died on the way to hospital, and a seventh, a critical patient referred to Ranchi, died while being shifted. “A vehicle carrying 19 people, including the driver, overturned,” he said.

Those named as having died on the spot include Raju Pandit, 40, Budhni Devi, 50, Ramkisun Mahto, 50, Rameshwar Kumar, 70, and Dhokla Kumar, 45. Savitri Devi and Rubia Devi were reported to have died of their injuries in hospital. Raju Pandit had come home from Mumbai on hearing of his father’s death and was travelling to Varanasi for the cremation.

The injured were taken to hospitals in Hazaribagh and Barhi. By the evening, the doctor said, one patient remained critical and was being stabilised, with a CT scan planned once the person was stable. Two stable patients had been admitted to a ward, one was in the emergency department, and others with minor injuries were being treated as outpatients. Three injured people were earlier described as serious.

How the crash unfolded on Monday

1. About 10:30 amThe van stops near Mahanetand, Danua valley, to tighten the rope on the body
2. Moments laterA speeding trailer hits it from behind and the van overturns with 19 people
3. Late morningFive dead at the scene, injured taken to Hazaribagh and Barhi
4. AfternoonSeventh victim dies while being shifted to Ranchi

The driver and the investigation

The trailer driver fled after the collision, and Chouparan police said a search for him was under way. His name has not been made public and no arrest had been reported by the evening. Police and the local administration reached the spot, villagers helped pull out the injured, and the damaged vehicles were cleared to restore traffic on the road. Police are investigating the cause.

One local account says a coal-laden truck travelling behind the van then ran into the wreckage and also overturned. Police have not confirmed this.

Reaction

Arjun Munda, the BJP leader and former chief minister of Jharkhand, said he was shocked by the news and called the accident “extremely unfortunate”. At the time of writing, no statement from the Chief Minister’s office or an ex gratia announcement for the families had been found.

Second fatal trailer crash in the state in a week

The crash is the second in Jharkhand within a week in which seven people died after being hit by a trailer. On the night of November 5, a speeding 18-wheeler ran over villagers who had stopped to help a scooter rider on the Karra-Torpa road in Khunti, killing four women and three children, as we reported in our earlier story. In that case too the driver fled and villagers blocked the road to demand his arrest.

Why it matters

Both crashes involved a heavy vehicle hitting people or vehicles that were stationary or at the roadside, and both ended with the driver running away. In Hazaribagh the van was struck from behind while stopped to secure the load, so the police inquiry will have to establish how fast the trailer was moving and where on the road the van had halted. The dead include at least two people from the same household, a husband and wife, Raju Pandit and Budhni Devi, according to a local account.

What happens next

Police are searching for the trailer driver and have not said what charges will follow. The condition of the one critical patient is the main medical update still awaited, and the district administration and the state government had not announced any compensation for the families by Monday evening.