Ranchi: Two labourers, including a woman, were killed on the spot while three others were injured when a speeding truck ran over a group of workers carrying out repairs on the Ranchi-Jamshedpur stretch of NH-33 under Namkum police station limits of the district on Saturday.The deceased were identified as Parvati Devi (54) of Bundu block and Tarkeshwar Mahto (45) of Tamar block in Ranchi district. The injured have been admitted to the Ranchi Sadar Hospital for treatment.Eyewitnesses said a local contractor of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) had engaged the workers for road repair. As the group of workers were the victims were at their work site near old Rampur, nearly 20 kilometres from here, coming from Jamshedpur went out of control and hit a tractor before ploughing through them. The vehicle overturned a few metres ahead.Police began rescue operations after being informed by the locals. The bodies of the deceased persons have been sent for post-mortem examination.Ram Narayan Singh, the officer in-charge of Rampur police station, said, “The truck bearing registration number of Uttar Pradesh was carrying paper materials. The driver has been arrested. Prima facie there is no evidence that he was driving under the influence of alcohol.”Traffic movement on NH-33 were normalised after the vehicles involved in the accident were removed from site.
