Angul: In a span of just a few hours, two separate road accidents near Khandahata in Angul town today have triggered serious concern among locals about road safety in the area.

In the evening, a Bolero vehicle (registration number OD02CV2004) allegedly driven at high speed rammed into five motorcycles. The vehicle then hit an electric pole before crashing into a garage. One motorcyclist sustained injuries in the incident. Eyewitnesses claimed the Bolero driver was in an inebriated condition at the time of the mishap.

The spot of the accident was barely 300 metres away from the site of an earlier collision the same day, where a car and an autorickshaw had collided head-on. That accident claimed the lives of three autorickshaw passengers and left three others critically injured.

Following the Bolero crash, agitated locals staged a road blockade on the Angul–Maidharpur stretch by burning tyres.

They demanded immediate compensation for the affected people and called for the setting up of a permanent traffic post at Khandahata Chhak to prevent such recurring accidents.

Police personnel, including one platoon of force, were deployed at the site to maintain law and order.