Bhubaneswar, April 8 (IANS): Three persons died while several others sustained severe injuries in separate road accidents in different parts of Odisha on Monday.

In the first incident, three friends from the Raikia area in Kandhamal district were returning home on a scooter after attending a religious festival at a village under Sarangada police limits on Monday when victims suddenly lost balance of their scooter at the turning point near a bridge.

They later fell into a 20ft deep gorge at Budamaha under Raikia police limits.

“A local informed the police about the incident. We immediately rushed to the spot and rescued the bodies of the deceased persons. We have initiated a probe to know the exact reason behind the mishap,” said a police official.

Police have identified the deceased as Basant Panda (30), Kushal Diggal (25) and Brahmananda Bhoi (25) of Raikia area of Kandhamal district. Panda was a tea stall owner while Bhoi and Diggal used to work as daily wagers.

In another incident, around 10 tourists were injured after the bus they were travelling in crashed into a rock on Dwarsuni ghat on National Highway-49 on Monday.

The tourists were returning to their home in Murshidabad area in West Bengal after visiting tourist spots in Rourkela.

Similarly, around 10 passengers were injured as a bus rammed into a roadside tree near G.Nuagaon Chowk under Bellaguntha police limits in Ganjam district.