Five members of a family were killed and another was seriously injured after the SUV they were travelling in rammed a truck from behind on National Highway 30 in Madhya Pradesh's Maihar district in the early hours of Tuesday, police said.
The accident occurred near Rigra village under the Dehat police station limits around 1 am when the victims were returning to Maihar after attending a birthday party.
The impact of the collision left the SUV mangled, trapping all six occupants inside.
Five died on the spot, while the injured person was rescued and taken to Amarpatan Civil Hospital before being referred to Satna District Hospital as his condition deteriorated, Dehat police station in-charge Panchraj Singh said.
The deceased were identified as Ankur Patel (40), Mradul Patel (32), Vijay Patel (30), Harishankar Patel (25) and Shiva Patel (23).
According to sources, the victims were relatives of local Congress leader Manish Patel.
(With inputs from PTI)