JAIPUR: Five people were burnt alive Wednesday when a truck rammed into two others parked on the roadside on the Jaipur-Ajmer road and caught fire.
Twelve animals were also charred to death in the fire which burnt all three trucks, including the one carrying cattle, police said.
The accident took place around 5.30 am at Dudu area in Jaipur Rural.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Jaipur Rural) Dinesh Sharma said the fire that broke out following the collision engulfed all three trucks.
Five people, including the driver of one of the trucks, were burnt alive in the fire, another police official said.
Circle officer of Dudu Zulfikar said three residents of Haryana -- Pawan (28), Sanju (18), Dharamveer (34) and two from Bihar's Chhapra -- Jan Vijay (35) and Bijli (26) -- were inside the truck.
"Two trucks were parked along the roadside. The truck carrying cattle from Haryana to Pune rammed into one of them. The accident occurred probably because of drowsy driving," the officer said.
He said traffic on the highway was not affected since the accident happened on the side of the highway.
One of the two trucks parked on the roadside contained bundles of yarn, while the second truck had plastic bags, the officer said.
He said that the fire broke out as the diesel tanks of the trucks got damaged in the collision and the flames spread due to the presence of goods like yarn and plastic bags.
A forensic team visited the site and has started an investigation, while a post-mortem has also been conducted, police said.
Jaipur Collector Prakash Rajpurohit and a senior police officer also visited the spot for inspection.