NAGPUR: Around nine migrant labourers, most of them women, were killed in the early hours of Friday when a pickup van rammed into a truck on the Lakhni-Pimpalgaon road in Bhandara district.Around 15 labourers were travelling in the pick-up vehicle towards Nagpur when the collision occurred. Most of them were asleep at the time, said sources.Eight of the injured were declared dead at Bhandara Government Hospital. Four others were referred to Government Medical College and Hospital in Nagpur. One of the survivors was reported to be in a critical condition.The identities of the dead and injured have not yet been established. Police and district officials said they were trying to contact family members of the labourers, who hail from Chhattisgarh.The impact was so severe that JCBs had to be used to separate the tangled vehicles.“Several workers remained trapped inside and could be heard crying for help. Local villagers and police rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to government hospitals in Bhandara,” said an official.IG Nagpur Range Sandeep Patil, Bhandara SP Nurul Hasan and other senior officers reached the site as rescue work continued. Bhandara district administration is providing assistance to the victims and coordinating efforts to identify them and inform their families.
