13 dead in 2 separate road mishaps

Dharwad/Balrampur: Seven people, including three children were killed and 13 others were injured when the cab in which they were travelling crashed into a tree at the Baad Cross, around 12 km from here, in the small hours of Saturday, police said. The injured have been admitted to the Karnataka Institute of Medical Sciences, where their condition is said to be serious.

While four people died on the spot, others succumbed to their injuries in the hospital. They were the residents of Benkatti village who were returning from a marriage function, they said. In another accident, six members of a marriage party were killed and three others injured in a head-on collision between an SUV and a tractor-trolley on the Tulsipur-Barhni National Highway in Balrampur, police said on Saturday.

The accident took place near Ganwaria trisection late on Friday when the victims were travelling from Laxmanpur to Bhagwanpur in Gasadi police station area, Balrampur Superintendent of Police Rajesh Kumar Saxena said. A jeep, too, rammed into the SUV on its rear end, the SP said.

While Basant (32), his wife Amrita (28), Laxman (40), Wadi (35) and Shadab (26) died on the spot, Ankit (13) died in the hospital.

Injured Shiv Prasad (52) and Durga Prasad (26) have been admitted to the district hospital. Another person named Umesh (13), whose condition is critical, has been referred to a hospital in Lucknow, the SP said, adding that the bodies have been sent for post-mortem and legal action is being taken.