Hazaribag: A truck loaded with fish plunged into the Tilaiya dam after breaking the railing of the Jawahar Ghat bridge under Barhi police station area in Hazaribag late on Wednesday, leaving the driver dead and the helper seriously injured, police said on Thursday.Police added that the truck (AP 35 X 8299) carried fish from Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh to Muzaffarpur in Bihar. The accident occurred after the driver lost control of the vehicle near the bridge.The impact was so severe that the fish loaded in the vehicle got scattered on the road. The helper managed to survive and was later found hanging from a pipe attached to the bridge railing. Locals passing by rescued him and rushed to the Barhi sub-divisional hospital, where he is currently undergoing treatment.Barhi police station in-charge Vinod Kumar soon rushed to the spot with his team to launch rescue operation. He said, “The truck is completely submerged in the dam, and the driver’s body is suspected to be trapped inside the vehicle.” Since Thursday morning, authorities pressed two cranes and local divers to trace the driver but deep water and poor visibility made the operation difficult.Till the time of filing this report, efforts were still on to retrieve the vehicle and recover the driver. Local residents claimed that accidents are frequent occur near the Jawahar Ghat bridge and demanded improved safety measures, including stronger railings and warning signage, to prevent such incidents in future.
