Balasore, Feb 11: In a tragic road accident, five people were critically injured after a car rammed into a moving container truck from behind on National Highway-16 near Talanagar area under Soro police station limits in Odisha's Balasore district early Wednesday morning, a source said.

According to our source from the ground, the car was travelling from Betnoti in Mayurbhanj district to Puri when the accident took place at around 4am. The vehicle reportedly hit the container truck from the rear and then subsequently crashed into a nearby shop.

All the passengers inside the car sustained injuries in the mishap. On receiving information, the National Highway patrolling team rushed to the spot and arranged for an ambulance. The injured persons were immediately shifted to Soro Community Health Centre for treatment. As the condition of two passengers deteriorated further, they were later referred to a hospital in Cuttack for advanced medical care.

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Further investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the accident.

The incident comes amid alarming road safety statistics in Odisha. Data presented in the Odisha Assembly on November 28, 2025, revealed that the state recorded 27,167 road accident deaths over the past five years, averaging 5,433 fatalities annually. During the same period, 50,041 people were injured.

Commerce and Transport Minister Bibhuti Bhushan Jena informed the House that Odisha reported 56,830 road accidents between 2020 and 2024. Except for 2020 -- when pandemic-related restrictions reduced fatalities to 4,738 -- the number of annual deaths has consistently remained above 5,000.

To improve road safety measures, the state government spent Rs 89.73 crore on various initiatives between 2020-21 and 2024-25. Additionally, Rs 23.17 crore was disbursed as financial assistance to accident victims under the Solatium Fund Scheme.

This story is compiled by Aditi Majhi.