Bihar Sharif, Mar 28 (PTI) Eight people were killed and several others seriously injured when a speeding truck ploughed into a roadside eatery in Bihar's Nalanda district on Sunday, police said.
Irate locals set fire to the vehicle and indulged in heavy stone-pelting when police and administrative officials reached the spot, a senior police officer said.
The accident took place in Telhada police station area in the evening when the driver of the truck coming from neighbouring Jehanabad district lost control over the vehicle, Deputy Superintendent of Police Krishna Murari Sharan said.
Employees of the eating joint and customers are among the deceased, he said.
The driver and other occupants of the truck abandoned the vehicle and fled the spot, following which infuriated spectators set it on fire.
Police personnel were pelted with stones while they tried to take the bodies for post-mortem examination and the injured to hospitals.
The vehicle of the Block Development Officer concerned was also vandalised, the deputy SP said, adding a huge police contingent has been deployed in the area to keep the situation under control.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who hails from Nalanda district, expressed grief over the tragedy and directed the district magistrate to provide ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of the kin of the deceased.
