Two sisters among six minors killed in Gopalganj accident

PATNA: Altogether six minors, including two sisters, were killed when a marble slab-laden tractor trolley overturned and fell on them near Sareya Narendra Mor under the Madhopur police outpost in Gopalganj district on Monday.
The accident occurred around 10.30am when the victims had gone for grazing cattle in a field on the outskirts of the village. The driver of a tractor trolley carrying marble slabs lost control while negotiating a turning on the Siwan-Majha Road, leading to the death of six minor girls.
According to Gopalganj superintendent of police (SP), Manoj Tiwari, the victims were playing on the roadside when the incident took place.“The bodies were retrieved from the debris with the help of an earth mover as earth filling work was in progress on the road. The wheels of the tractor were stuck under sand,” he said.
Gopalganj district magistrate Arshad Aziz and SP Tiwari rushed to the spot to supervise the rescue operation. Bodies of six girls in the age group of 10 to 17 years were retrieved from the debris and sent to the sadar hospital for postmortem.
The deceased were identified as Kajal Kumari (17), Lali Kumari (12), Kajal (12), Priti Kumari (11), Anita Kumari (10) and Neelam Kumari (11), all residents of Diha Nonia Tola under the Birauli police station area of the district.
Sources said the marble slabs were to be delivered to the mukhiya of Sareya Narendra Panchayat, Nemtara Begham. “The tractor has been seized and a complaint lodged on the statement of the deceased’s relatives,” Tiwari told this newspaper over phone.
Raju Mahto, who lost his two minor daughters — Kajal Kumari and Neelam Kumari — said, “The girls used to go to a nearby agricultural field for cattle grazing. They had left home this morning as usual, but destiny had something else in store for them.”
Meanwhile, a group of local residents blocked the Majha-Siwan Road and disrupted vehicular traffic for an hour. They demanded that the next of kin of the deceased be given adequate compensation and the tractor driver be arrested.
Birauli police station SHO Suman Mishra said the road blockade was removed after the intervention of senior police officers. They promised to nab the driver, who had managed to escape after leaving behind the tractor on the spot.