A woman and her two grandchildren died after being hit by a speeding car in Gobara village under Vikrampur police station area of Angul district on Friday.
Among the dead are Pramila Pradhan (50) and her grandsons Poonam Pradhan (7) and Bubu Pradhan (4). Eyewitnesses told that in the evening both the children were playing on the village road while their grandmother was standing nearby. At around seven in the evening, a speeding car hit both the children and Pramila on a narrow road. All three died on the spot.
Following the accident, angry villagers managed to stop the car at Jagannath Colony and thrashed the driver, who was allegedly in an inebriated condition.
On receiving the information, a team of Vikrampur police led by Talcher Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Manas Ranjan Barik reached the spot and brought the situation under control.
SDPO Barik said that the accused car driver has been taken into custody and the bodies have been sent for postmortem. Further investigation is underway. Similarly, two people including a pregnant woman died in a road accident in Balangir.
Those killed include Ashok Manjhi (26) and Lalita Manjhi (22) of Gandimal village under Turekela police station limits. Sources said the two were returning from Lathore on a two-wheeler when a truck hit them. Both died on the spot. The truck driver managed to escape after the accident. Turkela police reached the spot and sent the dead bodies for postmortem.