SUV collides with truck, 2 brothers among 9 killed

PURULIA: Nine people, including two brothers, returning from a wedding died when the SUV carrying them collided head-on with a truck on Dhanbad-Jamshedpur stretch of NH-18 in West Bengal's Purulia early Friday. All victims were from Jharkhand, reports Tanuja Singh Deo.

The group had hired an SUV from Nimdih village in Jharkhand's Seraikela-Kharsawan to attend a wedding in Purulia's Adabana village. When the guests were heading back home the next morning, their vehicle crashed into an oncoming truck at a curve.

The impact of the collision left the SUV mangled, while the truck overturned onto the roadside. Witnesses said the front of the SUV had caved in completely, trapping the passengers within.

Balrampur police took the passengers to Banshgar rural health centre, where all nine were declared dead. An Aadhaar card found on one of the deceased led cops to contact their relatives. The bodies were sent for autopsy. Police said probe was underway and witness statements were being recorded. They seized the truck. Its driver and helper, however, are on the run.