Jharkhand’s Godda witnessed a heart-stopping accident as a truck plunged dramatically 40 feet from Mahagama-Lalmatia road onto NTPC railway tracks, colliding head-on with a coal rake and injuring its two occupants. The Monday pre-dawn crash (approx 3:30 AM) triggered a multi-agency rescue amid twisted metal and halted trains.
Registered as JH12S 7078, the truck tore through safety railings before free-falling and impacting the moving rake, causing extensive front-end damage and rollover. Driver Lalu Kumar was pinned under the train compartment, his helper Manish Kumar crushed inside for three hours amid the debris.
Alerted by 6 AM, NTPC’s elite rescue squad led by Shubhashish Banerjee mounted a tense operation. Joined by police, they freed the victims using specialized tools. ‘We acted on immediate senior directives, prioritizing lives,’ Banerjee told reporters. Both men were hospitalized swiftly, battling multiple injuries.
The blockage snarled coal transport critical for power generation, resuming only after laborious clearance. Officials point to possible driver fatigue or slick roads as culprits, with forensic analysis underway. This tragedy amplifies calls for infrastructure upgrades, including stronger barriers and better lighting on accident-prone routes linking mines to plants.