Jaipur: Three members of a Kolkata family, including two elderly sisters and a teenage girl, were killed and at least 15 others injured after a speeding trailer collided head-on with a traveller minibus on National Highway-58 near Bobasar Pulia in Churu’s Salasar area Monday afternoon.The victims were part of a pilgrimage group that had visited Khatu Shyam and Salasar Balaji and was on its way to Pushkar in Ajmer when the accident occurred under the Sujangarh Sadar police station limits.According to police, the accident took place around 12.30pm when the trailer driver attempted to overtake a truck but lost control of the vehicle.“The trailer veered into the opposite lane, crashed into the oncoming traveller and then broke through the roadside railing before hanging off the edge of the highway,” said a police officer.The impact overturned the traveller, which was carrying around 20 passengers. Two occupants died on the spot, while a 16-year-old girl succumbed to her injuries during treatment.Police identified the deceased as sisters Sushila Sahu (70) and Urmila Sahu (65), and their grandniece, Anandi Kahar (16), all residents of Kolkata.Of the injured, three were referred to a higher medical centre in Sikar after sustaining critical injuries, while the remaining passengers were admitted to the Sujangarh sub-district hospital.Police said the trailer driver fled the scene immediately after the accident. A search has been launched to trace and arrest him.Family members said the group had reached Jaipur from Kolkata on Aug 1, visited Khatu Shyam the next day and, after offering prayers at Salasar Balaji Monday, was travelling to Pushkar when the fatal collision occurred.
