Three persons, including two senior citizens, died when a pick-up van mowed them down in Malda on Saturday.
Sources said Fekan Lal Ram, 61, Suresh Khaitan, 60, and Dilip Saha, 55, all of whom were residents of Tulsihatta under Harishchandrapur police station limits of the district, were out on a morning walk near NH31.
While the trio was near a temple in the Kabua Road area, a pick-up van on its way to Harishchandrapur from Chanchal lost control and rammed the trio. All three collapsed on the road.
Residents took them to a nearby rural hospital where doctors pronounced all three persons dead.
Van driver Helal Sheikh, 32, of Swarupganj in Chanchal, also got injured. He is under treatment at the super-specialty hospital in Chanchal.
As the news spread, agitated residents raised a blockade on NH31, demanding traffic police personnel to be posted in the area.
Soon, a team from the Harishchandrapur police station reached the spot. They spoke with the agitators who cleared the road after some time.
The police also impounded the pick-up van.
“It is an unfortunate incident. The driver is under treatment. We are in search of the vehicle’s owner. We will see to it that henceforth vehicles do not speed in this area,” said Somnath Saha, the sub-divisional police officer of Chanchal.
