lucknow, June 22 (IANS) Five persons, including three women, returning from a religious congregation, were killed in an accident in Uttar Pradesh's Gonda district on Friday when a tanker rammed head on into their car, police said.
The accident took place near Anbhula on the Gonda-Faizabad highway when they were returning from the religious congregation at Haveliya Ashram, renowned by followers of Kabir, in Chandapur, police said.
The collision was so severe that the car was turned into a mangled heap of steel and the bodies had to be pulled out of by cutting the doors, station officer Vinod Kumar told IANS. The tanker driver meanwhile fled the area, he added.
While four persons were killed on the spot, one women, critically injured, was taken to a nearby community health centre where she succumbed, the officer said.
The deceased have been identified as Rakesh Pandey, 38, who was the driver, Susheela, 70, Rajaram Dubey, 40, Yashoda, 50, and Malti Devi (45). The bodies have been sent for post-mortem and families have been informed, said police.
--IANS
md/vd
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