According to police officials, the incident took place around 11 am when seven villagers were travelling in a pickup vehicle from Jagdalpur to the weekly Pakhnar market. A truck coming from the Sukma side was moving behind the pickup when its brakes reportedly failed near the steep Jhiram Valley descent.
Unable to control the vehicle, the truck driver lost command and crashed into the pickup at high speed. The impact was severe, leaving the front portion of the truck completely mangled and throwing passengers onto the road.
Three occupants of the pickup—identified as Baijnath Thakur, Sundarlal Soni, and Firoz Ahmed Ansari—died on the spot. Four others sustained serious injuries and were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment. Their condition remains critical, officials said.
The truck driver, identified as Mukvindar, was trapped inside the crushed cabin following the collision. A rescue operation was launched by the Darbha police with the assistance of local authorities. Using gas cutters, the rescue team managed to extricate the driver safely after a prolonged effort.
Darbha Station House Officer Chanakya Nag confirmed that the preliminary investigation points to brake failure as the primary cause of the accident. “The road is narrow and the slope is steep. Once the brakes failed, the driver had no chance to stop the vehicle,” he said.
The accident led to a massive traffic jam on both sides of NH-30 in the Jhiram Valley stretch for several hours. Police and administrative teams deployed cranes to remove the damaged vehicles and restore vehicular movement.
Local residents expressed anger over frequent accidents in the area, citing narrow roads, sharp curves, and heavy vehicle movement through the forest corridor. As the stretch falls within a national park zone, road widening has not been possible, increasing the risk of high-speed collisions.
Authorities have initiated further investigation and are examining the mechanical condition of the truck. Postmortem examinations of the deceased are underway, and further action will be taken based on the inquiry findings.
