RAIPUR: A joyous night turned tragic as six people, including a couple and their seven-year-old son, were killed in a road accident on a national highway in Kanker, around 150 km south of Raipur, during the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.
The district police presumed the two speeding cars collided head-on, leaving both vehicles completely mangled on the road.
The impact was so severe that six individuals died on the spot, while three others sustained critical injuries.
According to eyewitnesses, both vehicles were traveling at high speeds when they struck each other directly. The force of the collision was so intense that passengers were trapped inside the crushed metal frames of the cars.
Debris was scattered across the highway, and locals described the sight as "terrifying." In a testament to the crash's sheer tragedy, the engine of one car remained running for a considerable time even after the vehicle had been destroyed.
The local police and ambulance services rushed to the site after being informed about the accident. Rescue teams faced significant difficulty extracting the victims from the twisted wreckage. The injured and deceased were immediately transported to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared six people dead on arrival.
Kanker district police chief Nikhil Rakhecha confirmed that the victims were residents of Udkuda village in the Charama block. They were returning home after attending a wedding ceremony in Chivranj when the accident occurred.
SP Rakhecha stated that a formal investigation into the cause of the accident is underway. The crash led to a massive traffic jam on the National Highway.
The accident wiped out an entire family, sending shockwaves through Udkuda village, the eyewitnesses stated.