SARLAHI:- One died while 11 others have sustained injuries after a Scorpio vehicle hit pedestrians in  Sitapur, Barahathawa Municipality–10, of Sarlahi on Friday evening.

According to police, the accident occurred around 7 pm when a Scorpio (DL 9 CZ 0777) traveling from Barahathawa toward the border struck 50-year-old Narayan Jarga Magar of Barahathawa Municipality–9, killing him on the spot.

“Preliminary investigation has suggested that the vehicle first hit a pedestrian and attempted to flee. While locals tried to stop the vehicle, it allegedly struck several other people and sped away, injuring many,” said DSP Niranjan Bhattarai of the Area Police Office, Barahathawa, speaking to Gorkhapatra Online.

Police have taken the Scorpio and its driver, 40-year-old Naresh Thakur of Laukath, Barahathawa Municipality–12,  into custody and further investigation is underway.

Those injured in the incident include wedding attendees and local residents.

The injured have been identified as Kamal Patel, aged 70, of Dostiya Pipariya in Rautahat; Bandhana Patel, 45, of Gadhimai Municipality–11 in Rautahat; Rupesh Mandal, 18, of Barahathawa–10, Pratima Kumari Patel, 15; Dilip Rai, 19; Chandan Paswan, aged 23, of Barahathawa–7, Dipika Jaiswal, aged 12, of Barahathawa–10, Ramji Rai, aged 20, Mukesh Raut, 23; and Ramnarayan Thakur, aged 55.

DSP Bhattarai said the injured are receiving treatment at various hospitals in Barahathawa as of Saturday morning.