Home » Accidents » Truck Accident »

Over 60 killed in Bihar truck accident

Aug 4, 2008 | Associated Press | NDTV News

A truck carrying 125 passengers and overloaded with sacks of rice fell off a bridge into a gorge in Bihar's Lakhisarai district on Saturday night killing 62 people according to eyewitnesses.

But the police claim that the death toll is 33.

They dead were farm labourers from Saharsa, Madhepura and Khagaria districts on their way back after transplanting paddy in Jamui district of Bihar.

They hitched a ride on a truck - all 125 of them even though the truck was already overloaded with rice.

When the truck passed over a bridge in Lakhisarai district, the bridge broke and the truck fell into a gorge.

One of the survivors said, "We were returning from Akauni village in Sikandara after earning our wages in paddy transplantation."

People around feel the bad roads are to blame and protested against the local administration.

Vinay Kumar, SP Jamui District said, " We want the villagers to
co-operate with us so that we can investigate what happened. The accident has occurred due to road conditions and the ignorance of the driver."

But an angry villager said, "The roads are in a bad state and they have been so for a very long time."

The roads have remained in a bad shape despite the centre clearing Rs 225 crore for a road project here.

But another problem to look into this incident is that the truck wasn't stopped even though it was clearly overloaded.