Local administration has lodged an FIR against the absconding driver of the truck which lost control during Durga Puja immersion at a ghat in Jamshedpur of Jharkhand on Tuesday evening, leading to the death of two persons and injuries to three others.

Apart from this, East Singhbhum deputy commissioner Manjunath Bhajantri has directed the district motor vehicle inspector and district transport officer to jointly probe if the truck had mechanical failure in the brake.

On Tuesday evening, a truck carrying the idol of Jugsalai Naya Bazar Puja Committee allegedly developed a brake failure while negotiating the slope of the Bodhanwala Ghat on the Kharkai river in Bistupur and rolled backwards taking at least half a dozen persons under the vehicle.

The driver fled from the spot after the incident and locals along with Bistupur police rescued the injured and rushed them to the nearby Tata Main Hospital where two persons succumbed to their injuries while three were undergoing treatment.

A statement issued by Tata Main Hospital said that Birendra Kumar, a resident of Kitadih, had already arrived deceased and despite medical efforts, Abhimanyu Gorai, 45, a resident of West Midnapore in Bengal who was playing dhak, could not survive his severe injuries.

Three persons — Gopal Gorai, 45, with injuries on chest, hand and leg; Bijay Gorai, 40, with injury on hip, both from West Midnapore in Bengal; and Hugra Mukhi, 40, a resident of Jugsalai, with facial and hip injuries — are undergoing treatment and are medically stable.

East Singhbhum senior superintendent of police Kishore Kaushal said that Bistupur police has already lodged an FIR against the absconding driver of the truck for reckless driving while a requisition has been sent to the district transport officer and motor vehicle inspector to find out if the truck indeed had a mechanical failure of the brake leading to the “unfortunate incident” or if the driver was at fault for reckless driving.

Chief minister Hemant Soren condoled the death of the two persons.

“May God grant peace to the departed souls and give strength to the bereaved family members to bear this grief. The district administration is providing medical aid to the injured people. I wish a speedy recovery to all the injured,” he said.

The Kendriya Durga Puja Committee on Wednesday requested the Dhalbhum SDO Piyush Sinha to pay a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to each of the deceased person's family and arranged to pay Rs 1 lakh as compensation immediately for the family of the deceased.

Durga Puja immersion passed off peacefully elsewhere in Jharkhand on Tuesday.