The accident occurred near Sundargarh district's Surapalli area
Nine kabaddi players from Odisha were killed and 13 others were seriously injured after a mini-truck in which they were travelling fell off a bridge on Saturday evening near Surapalli in Sundargarh district.
The incident occurred around 4:30 pm on Saturday when the team from Sendhapur village in Bonai block was returning after playing a tournament in the neighbouring Dhundigaon.
The victims have been identified as Abhiram Kalo (50), Dharanidhar Nayak (60), Chandra Sekhar Pradhan (18), Gauri Chandra Kissan (22) and Umesh Kissan (25).
The toll could go up as several of the injured were in critical conditions, sources said.
Sources said the driver lost control over the vehicle following which it overturned and fell off a small bridge.
Additional SP (Bonei) R.B. Panigrahi said: "The truck has been recovered from the site and all injured persons have been admitted to hospital." The police were inquiring into the incident.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has announced ex-gratia of Rs1lakh each to the kin of the victims.