Georgia:15 passenger van accident carrying 13 Bhutanese and 2 Africans leaves two dead, 13 injured in GA

Another familiar story: immigrants working at Chicken Processing Plant use 15 passenger vans for transportation to work and it kills them.

Posted on 23 March 2011 by Editor

A 15-seater van carrying 13 Bhutanese and two African nationals bound to Perry from Atlanta in Georgia crashed last night at around 9:00 p.m. leaving two dead and all passengers injured. The passengers were traveling from the Atlanta area to work at the Perdue chicken processing plant in Perry.

Click here to read original article on Bhutan News.

“A tire blew out,” reported one online portal www.macon.com, quoting Allison Selman-Willis, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman, as the cause of the incident.

According to Sheriff’s office, the Chevy 3500 15-passenger van traveled off the road near mile marker 197 in the southbound lanes and overturned.

Kamal Dahal from Georgia informed BNS over telephone that all of the passengers in the Van, who sustained injuries, are undergoing medical treatment at the Macon City Hospital.

According to DJ Khaling, Kharka Chhetri (49) and Tula Ram Chamlagai (44), both residents of Valley Brook Apartments in Decatur Georgia were “medically” pronounced dead. One of the dead bodies was being sent to a funeral home in Decatur while the other is not yet released.

Khaling also siad that the situation of two among five others admitted in ICU (Intensive Care Unit) has been critical. The victims have been reportedly suffering head injuries and limb fractures.

Excluding two, all other 13 passengers—11 injured and two deceased, are Bhutanese resettled in Atlanta, Georgia over last three years through the International Organization for Migration.