Surendranagar: Eight persons, including five women and two children, were charred to death after the car carrying them collided with an SUV, landed in a roadside ditch, and burst into flames in Gujarat’s Surendranagar district on Sunday, police said.
The horrific accident occurred on a highway near Dedadara village in Wadhwan taluka at around 3:40 pm when the car was headed towards Surendranagar city from Kadu village.
Three individuals travelling in the SUV escaped with minor injuries, police said.
Soon after the crash, the car landed in a roadside ditch and turned into a ball of fire, trapping all the occupants even as locals looked on helplessly.
“All eight persons in the car were charred to death. Three others travelling in the SUV escaped with minor injuries and were rushed to a hospital,” said DIG, Surendranagar, Girish Pandya.
He said the front portion of the SUV was badly damaged due to the impact of the collision.
A police official said the fire reduced the car to a burnt shell, and local fire brigade personnel struggled to extricate the bodies.
The deceased individuals included two girls, aged 10 months and 13 years respectively, five women in the age group of 35-55 years, and the driver.
“All eight bodies were taken to the Surendranagar government hospital for postmortem,” Pandya said.
The accident caused a massive traffic jam on the highway.