Ghatagaon: In a tragic incident, eight persons lost their lives and nine more seriously injured when the van they were travelling in rammed into a standing truck on the National Highway 20 near Balijodi village in Ghatagaon Keonjhar. All the passengers were pilgrims from Ganjam’s Pudamari village and were going to have darshan of Goddess Tarini. According to sources, the twenty member team of pilgrims had started yesterday from Ganjam’s Pudamari village and were just three kilometers away from the Tarini Temple when the incident occurred. The van driver is said to have absconded from the spot. The injured have been shifted to Ghatagaon Hospital for treatment. A pall of gloom has descended in Pudamari village after the news about the tragic incident spread.