Two toto passengers were killed and two others injured after a Scorpio collided with a toto on Basanti Highway in the Bayarmari area on Wednesday afternoon, according to a report by Bartaman Patrika. The Scorpio subsequently lost control and fell into a roadside waterbody.
The deceased passengers were taken to Minakha Hospital, where doctors declared them dead, the report said. Both victims were residents of the Bhangar area in South 24 Parganas. The injured people were initially taken to Minakha Rural Hospital and later shifted to a government hospital in Kolkata for further treatment.
Police from the Rajbari outpost under Nazat police station reached the crash site after receiving information about the incident. The report said the police were involved in the rescue operation, including bringing the two toto passengers to the hospital.
The Scorpio was associated with Sukumar Mahat, a former Trinamool Congress legislator from Sandeshkhali. Mahat told Bartaman Patrika that he had asked the driver to bring the vehicle because he needed to visit a doctor. He was not inside the vehicle when the crash occurred, according to the report.
Mahat attributed the collision to a race between two totos and said he would support the families of the deceased. The account of the crash and the circumstances leading to the vehicle entering the waterbody were reported by Bartaman Patrika; the material supplied for this report does not include an independent police account or a formal investigation finding.
The crash has also raised questions about how the collision occurred on a wide section of Basanti Highway and whether the road environment, traffic movement or driving behaviour contributed to the severity of the incident. The supplied report does not provide details of the exact road conditions, vehicle speeds, traffic controls or any case registered by the police.
The immediate response involved rescuing the victims, transporting them to Minakha Hospital and shifting the injured to Kolkata for continued treatment. Further details about the police investigation, the condition of the injured and any legal action were not available in the supplied report.
