JHAPA: Scooter rider Laxmi Saha, 33, died when a loaded truck hit her scooter on Paliya Bridge at Mechinagar-6 along the under-construction Asian Highway on Thursday night.

The truck (PB 02 BR 7765) had hit the scooter (Pr 1–01–013 P 5888) while she was on her way from Kakadbhitta to Birtamod.

Information officer at the District Police Office, Khagendra Bahadur Khadka, shared that Saha, a local of Mechinagar–6, was critically injured in the accident.

She was immediately taken to Mechi AMDA Hospital in Dhulabari for treatment, where the doctors declared her dead, Khadka further said.

The police took 36-year-old truck driver Sandeep Singh from Punjab, India, under control and held him at the local police office.

The public have complained about the distress caused due to the haphazard diversion on the under-construction Asian Highway and the uneven road.

On the evening of last December 20, two young people died in a motorcycle accident at a diversion near Buttawari Tea Garden in Birtamod–6.

The public have also complained of not properly placing and maintaining diversion and signposts, and the unmanaged road conditions on the Kankadbhitta–Birtamod section along the highway.

Journalist Sabitra Dahal from Kankai-6 and Evan Luintel from Mechinagar-9 said that they met with accidents on the highway due to poor diversion.

Dahal and Luintel have recently returned home after recovering, following a long hospital stay.