Rourkela: Drivers of a tipper truck and a trailer were burnt alive after their vehicles collided head-on and caught fire on State Highway-10 in Sundargarh district on Tuesday.The accident occurred near Kaintara around 6.45 am when the driver of the empty tipper truck, travelling from Jharsuguda to Sundargarh, allegedly lost control, crossed the divider and rammed into a trailer coming from the opposite direction. The impact was such that it ruptured the trailer’s diesel tank, triggering a blaze that quickly engulfed both vehicles and reduced them to charred wreckage.Fire service personnel from Sundargarh and Jharsuguda, along with a team from Bhasma police station, went to the spot and launched a rescue operation. Though the flames were doused, by the time the drivers could be pulled out from the wreckage, they were charred to death.Traffic on SH-10 was disrupted for around two hours as police removed the burnt vehicles. The bodies, initially unidentifiable, were shifted to Sundargarh district headquarters hospital.Police later identified the trailer driver as Chhabindra Behura (49) of Mangalpatna village in Cuttack district and the tipper driver as Sakil Khan (25) of Latehar district in Jharkhand. Their families have been informed. Post-mortem examination will be conducted after their family members arrive.Bhasma police seized both vehicles, registered an accident case and launched an investigation. “We are trying to ascertain the exact cause behind the accident,” said Amar Hota, inspector in-charge, Bhasma police station.
