RAYAGADA: At least six persons, including three women and a child, died on Tuesday when an auto-rickshaw in which they were travelling collided head-on with a truck near Kothapeta village in Rayagada district.
The deceased were identified as G Parvatiamma (29), K Ashish (5), K Sunita (27), Janaki Himirika (15), A Janardhan Rao (48) and an unidentified woman.
Of the injured, five were shifted to Visakhapatnam.
The accident took place when the overloaded auto-rickshaw carrying 18 passengers collided with the truck loaded with cotton coming from the opposite direction.
Chandli police rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to District Headquarters Hospital. Tension prevailed in the area after the accident as irate villagers staged road blockade disrupting traffic till late evening.
The driver and helper of the truck fled from the spot.