Three youths were crushed to death when their motorbike rammed into a truck at high speed apparently because of poor visibility caused by dense fog at Chapra in Nadia district on Monday morning.
The three construction workers were on their way to work in Chapra. The truck was laden with sand. The accident occurred about 7.30am on the Chapra-Ranabandh state road that extends till the Indo-Bangladesh Border.
The deceased were Imadul Halsana, 30, Sekim Ali Mondal, 24, and Ekbal Mondal, 20, all residents of Hatkhola village. Imadul was riding the motorcycle with Sekim and Ekbal as pillion riders.
Police said there was heavy fog and the biker could have missed seeing the truck because of low visibility. Local residents, however, blamed construction materials like sand and stone chips dumped on the roadside for the accident.
The villagers took the trio to Nadia district hospital in Krishnagar, where they were declared dead. Hospital sources said all the three victims had suffered head injuries as none of them was wearing helmets.
A local resident and an eyewitness said: “It is true that there was low visibility because of dense fog but the motorcyclist tried to slam the brakes at the last moment when he saw the truck coming towards him. He couldn’t avoid the truck as the two-wheeler skidded on stone chips dumped on the roadside.”
However, till Monday afternoon, no complaint had been lodged against the villagers who had allegedly dumped building materials on the road.
A member of the local Pipragachi gram panchayat said: “On a number of occasions we have issued notices to people against dumping construction materials on the roadside. However, none paid heed to the notices and they are in a way responsible for the deaths of the three youths.”
In another incident, Souvik Mondal, 17, died at Khulna village in North 24-Parganas’s Sandeshkhali when his motorcycle rammed into a roadside lamp post while returning home from a picnic on Sunday night.
The accident left pillion riders Rupam Mondal and Preetam Biswas, both aged 19, critically injured. The trio were taken to Khulna rural hospital, where Souvik was declared dead. Rupam and Preetam were later transferred to NRS hospital in Calcutta.
An officer of Sandeshkhali police station said: “The victim was riding the motorcycle at high speed despite foggy weather and none was wearing helmets.”