At least seven people from Bengal’s Matia of North 24-Parganas were killed on Saturday when a mini truck carrying them rammed into a stationary truck at Neulpur near Chandikhol square on the National Highway-16 (connecting Calcutta and Chennai) in Odisha’s Jajpur district.

All the deceased were from Matia’s Nehalpur-Sardarpara village near Basirhat. They were reportedly going to fetch chicks for bulk supply to hatcheries in Calcutta. They left on Friday afternoon and were expected to return home by Sunday morning.

Inspector in-charge (IIC) of Dharmashala Police Station of Jajpur district, Rakesh Tripathy, told The Telegraph: “The mini-truck coming from Bengal was on its way to Pipili of Puri district to take chickens. The accident took place around 5 am.”

The inspector said: “The driver was not able to notice a stationary truck parked on the left side of the road because of low visibility owing to the dense fog and hit it. While six people died on the spot, another succumbed to injuries at Sriram Chandra Bhanja Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.”

The deceased have been identified as Suraj Mondal, Karim Sardar, Md Amirul Ali Sardar, Amjed Ali Sardar, Md Arif Sardar, Jahangir Sardar, and Moyazzem Sardar.

Tripathy said: “An eyewitness said the mini truck came at a high speed and hit the stationary vehicle. The mini truck was completely damaged following the accident. Both police and fire personnel struggled hard to retrieve the bodies from the cabin of the mini truck.”

The stationary truck laden with iron ore had met with an accident with another truck two days back at the same spot. The truck was also burnt. While one of the trucks was removed from the roadside, this iron-laden truck was there on the roadside following the accident.

“Process had begun to evacuate the iron ore and a crane was brought to remove it which was parked on the left side of the road. Before it could be taken away, the accident took place,” Tripathy said.

A pall of gloom descended on Nehalpur-Sardarpara village after the news of the accident arrived. Deceased driver Suraj Mondal’s son Kashmir, 16, a Madhyamik candidate from Dhanyakuria High School, said: “Last night Baba inspired me a lot over the phone for the ongoing examination. I had planned to seek his blessing before leaving for today’s paper”.

With the support of friends and teachers, Kashmir appeared for the geography examination at Bunarati Yousuf Ismail Memorial High School on Saturday, 9km from his home. Officials from the North 24-Parganas administration as well as ruling party leaders arrived in Matia to extend support in bringing back the bodies.

Senior Trinamul leader and Basirhat-II block president Mihir Ghosh said: “Our district administration has already made contact with the Jajpur district administration to ensure that the bodies are returned after an autopsy without any delay”.