PURULIA: Nine people were killed in a head-on collision between a truck and a car in West Bengal's Purulia district on Friday morning.
According to the police, the accident occurred around 6.30 am on NH-18 in Namshol village within the Balarampur Police Station limits, when the victims were returning from a wedding ceremony.
"The head-on collision took place between an SUV and a truck on the highway, killing all nine occupants of the four-wheeler," Balarampur Police Station in-charge Soumyadeep Mallick told PTI.
The impact of the collision was so severe that the SUV was mangled.
Locals rushed to the spot and took the victims to a nearby primary health centre, where doctors declared all of them dead, the police said.
Preliminary investigations suggest overspeeding and possible negligence as contributing factors to the accident, he said.
A case has been registered and further investigation is underway, the police added.