At least seven people were killed and more than a dozen injured in a series of road accidents across Chhattisgarh’s Korba, Kanker, Raigarh and Bemetara districts between Tuesday evening and Wednesday, during Dussehra-related travel and celebrations. The crashes involved an unidentified heavy vehicle, a highway collision, motorcycles, a stationary truck and an overloaded tractor carrying villagers from a fair.
In Korba’s Kartala area, Yashwant Gupta, 24, and Shubham Gupta, 20, died after an unidentified heavy vehicle struck their electric scooter on the Rampur-Nonbirra road late Tuesday. Family members told police that the two men had gone to return puja material after the immersion of a Durga idol and were travelling back when the crash occurred. Both died at the spot, while the driver fled.
Kartala police are scanning CCTV footage and questioning local residents to identify the vehicle and trace its driver. The investigation is continuing, and no arrest was reported in the information available.
In Kanker, two youths from Nandanmara were killed in a late-night crash on the bypass. The deaths led villagers to block the bypass on the National Highway 30 stretch the following morning. Residents alleged that inadequate lighting and the absence of speed-control measures had made the road dangerous. Women and children also joined the protest, during which villagers demanded streetlights, speed breakers and an overbridge.
Administrative and police officials reached the site, and the blockade was withdrawn after assurances were given on the demands. The incident placed local road design and traffic management at the centre of the response, rather than treating the deaths only as an individual crash.
Raigarh recorded three deaths in two separate accidents in the Chhal region on Tuesday night. In the first incident, four youths, including a minor, were travelling on a single motorcycle towards a fair when the bike allegedly hit the rear of a stationary truck. Krishna Rathia, 15, and Jitendra Rathia died at the spot. Dharmendra Rathia and Kundan Rathia suffered serious injuries and were referred to Raipur for treatment.
In the second accident near Chhal Chowk, an elderly man, Chandradev Singh Thakur, was walking with family members towards a fair when a motorcycle struck him from behind. He suffered severe head injuries and died at the spot. Police have begun investigations into both Raigarh crashes.
In Bemetara’s Nawagarh area, a tractor carrying more than 40 villagers returning from a Dussehra celebration overturned near Salheghori village. Around 12 people were injured and taken to the community health centre at Nawagarh. Four were reported to be in serious condition. Revenue and police officials visited the hospital and reviewed the condition of the injured.
The incidents occurred across different road settings but shared several immediate safety concerns: travel during a crowded festival period, suspected speeding, vulnerable two-wheeler users, passengers travelling on a tractor and deficiencies alleged by residents on a highway bypass. The available report does not establish a single cause for all seven deaths, and each crash is being investigated separately by the police and local authorities.
The Kanker blockade has resulted in assurances on lighting, speed control and an overbridge. In the other districts, the next steps identified by authorities are the ongoing police investigations, efforts to trace the unidentified vehicle in Korba and continued medical treatment for those injured in Raigarh and Bemetara.
