Sambalpur, Jan 30: A speeding car rammed into an electric pole late at night near Ainthapali PHD Ground in Sambalpur district, leaving three parked motorcycles badly damaged and causing the car’s engine to be thrown onto the road, a source said Friday.

According to the source, the car was travelling at high speed from the Budharaja side when it lost control and hit an electric pole along the roadside on late Thursday night. The impact completely smashed the front portion of the vehicle, with the engine dislodging and landing on the opposite side of the road.

Three motorcycles parked near the spot were crushed in the collision. The airbags inside the car deployed following the crash. The driver and another occupant reportedly managed to come out safely and fled the scene soon after the accident, the source informed.

The incident occurred late at night. On Friday morning, officials from the Motor Vehicles Inspector (MVI) reached the spot and began an inspection. Authorities are examining the extent of damage, the ownership of the vehicle, the speed at which it was being driven and the exact cause of the accident.

Police launched an investigation into the incident. CCTV footage reportedly shows that the car was being driven at a very high speed within city limits, and officials are examining the footage to ascertain the exact cause of the accident.

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

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

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To address road safety, the state government spent Rs 89.73 crore on various initiatives between 2020–21 and 2024–25, besides disbursing Rs 23.17 crore as financial assistance to accident victims under the Solatium Fund Scheme.