Five members of a family, including a child and three women, were killed after their car rammed into a truck on National Highway-43 in Madhya Pradesh's Umaria district in the early hours of Thursday, police said. The accident occurred between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. near Bharaula village in the Siddha Baba area under the jurisdiction of Kotwali police station.
The impact was so severe that the car was completely mangled, leaving one of the occupants trapped inside the wreckage. According to the police, the victims were residents of Leela village in neighbouring Anuppur district. The family was travelling to Chitrakoot in the car when the vehicle allegedly went out of control and crashed into the rear of a truck moving ahead on the highway.
Police personnel from Kotwali police station, along with a 108 ambulance team, rushed to the spot after receiving information about the accident. Rescue teams worked for a considerable time to cut open the badly damaged vehicle and extricate the trapped occupant.
The injured man was immediately shifted to the district hospital, where doctors declared him dead. Another occupant, who had sustained serious injuries in the crash, succumbed during treatment. The remaining three occupants died on the spot due to the impact of the collision, police said.
Additional Superintendent of Police Alok Sharma said that all five victims belonged to the same family and were residents of Leela village in Anuppur district. "The family was travelling to Chitrakoot when the accident occurred. The exact cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained, and an investigation is underway," Sharma said.
Police identified the deceased as a man, three women and a child. Their bodies were sent to the district hospital for post-mortem examination after legal formalities were completed. Preliminary investigation suggests that the speeding car hit the truck from behind, though the exact sequence of events will be established after the investigation.
Police have registered a case and are examining all aspects of the accident. Authorities have also initiated efforts to trace the truck driver and collect further evidence from the spot.