Five persons, including two children, of a family died and seven others were injured when the car ferrying them collided with a dumper truck in East Budwan’s Dewandighi early on Friday morning.
Police and family sources said the victims, residents of Syedpara village in Murshidabad’s Burwan, were returning from Calcutta airport after receiving Kaushar Sheikh, who had gone to work in Mumbai as a migrant worker and was returning to his village after around year-and-a half. All the family members had left the village on Thursday evening and started from Calcutta airport around midnight. On the way back home, when the car was crossing Dewandighi, on the outskirts of Burdwan, it collided with a dumper truck killing five persons on the spot around 4.30am on Friday.
“Five persons have been killed and the injured have been admitted to the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital. We have registered a suo-motu case in this connection and are trying to track down the dumper that hit the car,” said Kamanasish Sen, the East Burdwan police chief.
“My brother was coming by flight after almost two years and so all the family members had gone to receive him from the airport. They had hired an SUV to bring him home but we woke up to the ghastly news when police called up to share the information,” said Kaushar’s sister Dulali Biwi, 36.
The deceased have been identified as Kaushar’s father Rashid Sheikh, 64, the migrant worker’s nephews Ariyan Sheikh, 6, and Sayan Sheikh, 3, and his daughters Saynoor Khatun, 17, and Sonali Khatun, 19.
Doctors at the Burdwan Medical College and Hospital said conditions of Kaushar, 43, and six others, including drivers of both the vehicles, were critical.
“We suspect that the driver of the car fell asleep at the wheels and rammed into the truck. However, we are looking into what had led to the incident,” said a police officer in East Burdwan.