SILIGURI: Three people were killed and two others critically injured in a head-on collision between a car and a truck in West Bengal's Alipurduar district, police said.
Surya Pada Paul, a professor of Geography at North Bengal University (NBU), was returning home to Alipuduar's Kamakhyaguri along with the body of his father.
Paul was in a car along with his mother Minati, wife Purnima, five-year-old daughter Aditi and his friend Debashish Saha.
They were following an ambulance, which was taking the body of Paul's father from Siliguri to Kamakhyaguri.
The accident happened early morning on National Highway-31C in Kalchini block when a truck collided head-on with Paul's car, police said.
Police and fire services personnel rescued those in the car, and admitted them to the Alipurduar hospital.
Paul, his mother and his friend died while undergoing treatment there, they said.
Later, his wife and daughter were shifted to a private nursing home in Cooch Behar district for better treatment.
Police said they have seized the truck but the driver fled the spot.