Boys skip school for tractor ride; 3 killed as vehicle overturns

Dhamtari (Chhattisgarh): Three minor boys lost their lives, and another sustained serious injuries when a tractor they were riding overturned in Chhattisgarh’s Dhamtari district. The accident occurred on Wednesday near Charra village under Kurud police station limits, officials said.

The deceased were identified as Pritam Chandrakar (16), Mayank Dhruv (16) from Mogra village, and Honendra Sahu (14) from Charra. The injured boy, Arjun Yadav, hails from Banagar, police said.

According to officials, Chandrakar took out his tractor, and the four friends decided to go for a ride to Kurud after skipping school. However, on their way back, Chandrakar, who was driving the vehicle, lost control near an agricultural college in Charra, causing it to overturn.

Three of the boys were trapped under the tractor and died on the spot, while Yadav suffered serious injuries. Local residents alerted the police, who arrived at the scene and sent the bodies for post-mortem. The injured boy was admitted to a hospital, authorities confirmed.

A case has been registered, and an investigation is underway, police said.

Officials pointed out that damaged ‘side shoulders’, earthen embankments on the edges of rural roads are a major cause of such accidents. In Charra, these embankments had not been properly filled, leaving pits on the roadsides, which may have contributed to the tractor overturning, they added.

With PTI inputs