A fertiliser-laden truck overturned on State Highway 40 near Kotpara in Raighar, Nabarangpur district, on Thursday morning, killing the driver instantly.
The truck, carrying 600 packets of fertiliser worth nearly Rs 11.91 lakh from Jeypore to Raighar LAMPS, lost balance and rammed into two large roadside trees before overturning.
The driver, identified as Kant of Kenduguda village in Jeypore, was trapped inside the mangled vehicle. Fire service personnel from Raighar–Umerkote cut through the iron frame to recover the body after prolonged efforts. Police confirmed that the driver suffered severe head injuries and died on the spot.
Officials, including the Tehsildar Manmohan Sahu, Block Agriculture Officer Rashmi Ranjan Sahu, Additional Agriculture Officer Geetanjali Bariha, and LAMPS MD Manoranjan Pattnayak, inspected the site. They checked the fertiliser stock and arranged for its safe transfer to the warehouse.
The truck belonged to Balaram Garada of Jeypore. Raighar police seized the body, registered an unnatural death case, and initiated an investigation. After the postmortem, the body was handed over to the family.
