Daltonganj: Six people, including a seven-year-old boy, were killed after a container truck hit a motorcycle and then collided head-on with an autorickshaw at Derhtangwa Ghati in Latehar district on Saturday evening, police said.Latehar SDPO Sandip Kumar Gupta said the truck first hit the motorcycle, killing Afsari Khatun, 40, her son, Asjad, and another family member, Kurban, 27. The truck then collided with an autorickshaw, killing its driver Raghib Khan, 35, and two passengers — Vinod Oraon, 33 and Hiralal Oraon, 38. Raghib and Vinod hailed from Lohardaga district, while the rest are from Latehar, police said.The container was travelling from Lohardaga towards Chandwa, while the motorcycle and auto were headed in the opposite direction, officers said.The bodies were sent to Latehar Sadar Hospital, where postmortem examinations were conducted on Saturday night on the orders of deputy commissioner Sandip Kumar. Police seized the container truck, but its driver fled after the accident.The DC has written to his Lohardaga counterpart seeking a ban on heavy vehicles between Chandwa’s Lookuiyya More and Chapi in Lohardaga, citing steep gradients, sharp bends and the risk of head-on collisions.“There is no way to prevent accidents on this stretch except by prohibiting the movement of heavy vehicles,” Kumar said on Sunday, adding that the Lohardaga administration would take the final decision.Officials said heavy vehicles could use the Lohardaga-Kuru-Chandwa route, though truck operators claimed the alternative would increase travel time and fuel costs.A Latehar administration committee, led by the district transport officer and including the SDPO, will hold talks with Lohardaga officials on safety measures. The proposals include installing convex mirrors at sharp bends and other accident-prone locations. Officials may also examine Rajasthan’s practice of displaying wrecked vehicles along roads to caution motorists.
