Five persons were killed and three others were critically injured in a tragic road accident on National Highway 27 under Nagar Kotwali police station of Basti district early Monday morning.

Those injured in the accident have been admitted to a hospital.

According to reports, the accident occurred around 7 am when a car collided with a container near a Tata agency in Gotwa around 7 am on Monday.  The container heading towards Ayodhya from Basti changed lanes and collided with the car coming from the opposite direction.

The occupants of the car were going from Gujarat to Bihar.

Five occupants of the car died on the spot. They were identified as Shivraj Singh. son of Hompal Singh Asmoli in Sambhal, Shakeel, Vishwajeet, Baharan and car driver Prem, son of Nandlal of Gorakhpur.

On receiving information of the accident, the circle officer of Kalwari, station house officer of Nagar Kotwali and in-charge of Futhiya police outpost reached the spot with force.

According to the CO, the victims were coming from Gujarat and going to Bihar and Gorakhpur.

He said the condition of injured Chhagur Yadav and Bhual, both residents of Gopalganj, Bihar, and Anirudh, resident of Gorakhpur, was said to be critical by the doctors.

A case was registered in this regard and further investigations are on. The bodies were sent for autopsy and efforts are being made to arrest the driver of the container involved in the accident.

In a separate road accident, a couple was killed and their two children were injured when a truck rammed into their SUV on Ranchi-Rewa highway in Sonbhadra on Monday.

The accident occurred near Kolinduba village when Nageshwar Gupta (48) was returning home with his wife Munni Devi (42) and his two children after attending a religious event in Harnakachar village, Circle Officer Pradeep Singh Chandel said.

As their vehicle reached near Harnakachar village late at night, it collided with a truck. The couple died on the spot, while the two children sustained critical injuries.

Chandelsaid the family hailed from Sahijan village in Robertsganj Kotwali area.

The truck driver fled the scene with the vehicle, and efforts are underway to nab him.

In Etah, a woman was killed and six others, including two policemen, were seriously injured when a speeding car hit a police vehicle on Monday.

According to Circle Officer Yogendra Kumar, the accident occurred around 7 am when six people travelling in the car were en route from Kannauj to Loni in Ghaziabad.

It is suspected that the driver dozed off and lost control of the vehicle, which hit a police jeep in the Kotwali Dehat area.

Kumar said that Salma (45) died on the spot, while six others, including two policemen, were injured and rushed to the hospital.

The woman’s body has been sent for post-mortem.