Five people, including three from one family, were killed when their SUV collided head-on with a trailer truck while returning from a wedding in Jharkhand, police said on Saturday.
The victims were returning to Ranidiha village in Gorakhpur district after attending a wedding in Ranchi, Jharkhand.
Two people from Bihar's Gaya district were also travelling with them.
The accident took place in the Doharighat police station area on the highway late Friday night when the SUV, bearing a Jharkhand registration number, went out of control, crossed its lane and crashed into an oncoming trailer, circle officer of the area Jitendra Kumar Singh said.
The impact was so severe that the vehicle was completely mangled.
A pet dog travelling with the family also died in the accident.
The deceased were identified as Vinay Srivastava (53), his wife Archana Srivastava (48), their son Kritarth Srivastava (27), and Ravindra Yadav (20) and Purushottam Kumar (28), both residents of Gaya.
Police rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation.
The bodies were extricated after considerable effort and sent to the district hospital mortuary for post-mortem.
Both vehicles have been seized, and further investigation is underway to ascertain the exact cause of the accident, officials said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the loss of lives and extended his condolences to the bereaved families, officials said.
(With inputs from PTI)