Three children die as truck rams into thatched house

BHAGALPUR: Three children of a family were crushed to death by a speeding truck while they were fast asleep inside their thatched house on the approach road to Vikramshila Setu near Jahanvi Chowk under the Parbatta police station area in Naugachia sub-division in the wee hours of Thursday.
Two cattle were also crushed to death, while other members of the family had miraculous escape with mild injuries.
The truck rammed into the roadside thatched house of one Chandradev Mandal on the approach road, which connects NH-31 with NH-80 through Vikramshila Setu.
The deceased were identified as Suraj Kumar (14), Chanda Kumari (11) and Puja Kumari (9), all children of Chandradev. Two other children – Himasnhu Kumar and Sonakshi Kumari along with Chandrdev and his wife Kaari Devi – escaped unhurt.
Chandradev used to eke out a living by selling tea at a roadside stall and lived with his family in the thatched house on the roadside. Sources said the truck, while trying to overtake another vehicle on the busy road, lost balance and rammed into Chandradev’s house.
Ismailpur circle officer Surendra Prasad and cops from Ismailpur, Parbatta and Naugachia police stations reached the spot soon after the accident and started rescue operations.
Ismailpur CO Suresh Prasad said ex-gratia payment of Rs 4 lakh per deceased would be given to the family. “The bodies have been sent for postmortem and the process for issuing death certificates is on,” the CO added.