Three persons, including two women, were killed and eight others sustained grievous injuries when an auto-rickshaw by which they were travelling had a head-on collision with a speeding truck near Jodenga under the Raighar police station in Nabarangpur district on Sunday.
The identities of the deceased and injured were yet to be ascertained, a police official said.
Reports said the mishap occurred when the truck driver was negotiating a turning by overtaking a passenger bus. About ten persons were travelling in the ill-fated three-wheeler.
Three occupants of the auto-rickshaw died on the spot. They were on their way to attend the tenth-day ritual of a relative. The truck was on its way from Jeypore to Raipur.
Some locals rescued the injured and rushed them to a hospital in Jodenga.
On being informed, the Raighar police reached the spot and seized the two vehicles. Police registered a case in this connection and initiated a probe into the mishap.
