Alipurduar, 27 December (H.S.): Three people died in a road accident in West Bengal's Alipurduar district on Saturday. According to the police, the accident occurred on National Highway-31 in the Garam Basati area, where a head-on collision took place between a small car and a 12-wheel trailer.

Following the accident, the trailer fell into a ditch by the roadside, while the car was completely destroyed. The car was reportedly heading towards Siliguri in North Bengal, while the trailer was coming from the opposite direction. The car collided with the oncoming trailer while attempting to overtake another vehicle.

The police said the car driver, Manojit Biswas, died on the spot. He was a resident of the Sankosh tea garden area in the Kumargram area. Among the deceased was Souvik Biswas, Manojit's cousin, who was also from the same tea garden area. The third deceased was identified as Raju Mandal, a resident of Alipurduar and a car mechanic by profession.

Local residents said that dense fog has been prevailing in North Bengal for the past few days, resulting in near-zero visibility on the roads. This is believed to have caused the accident.

Police officials have advised motorists to exercise caution, especially on national highways. Officials also said that arrangements for providing hot milk, tea, and biscuits to drivers travelling at night are being considered.

Siliguri DCP (Traffic) Kazi Shamsuddin Ahmed said,

“Every year at this time, visibility is reduced due to dense fog. Everyone needs to be more careful while driving on the roads. Three people died in a road accident today. We are appealing to people to exercise caution.”

Meanwhile, a container truck overturned after hitting a divider on the Vidyasagar Setu in Kolkata on Saturday morning. Although a major accident was averted due to the truck's low speed, the incident caused significant traffic congestion on the bridge connecting Howrah and Kolkata for a considerable period.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey