Three persons were killed on the spot and five others sustained critical injuries when a Scorpio in which they were travelling lost control and hit a truck from rear on National Highway-16 near Sunei-Rupei in the Badapokharia area under the Jankia police station in Khordha district on Sunday morning.
The tragedy took place while the ill-fated Scorpio was on its way to Bhubaneswar.
The vehicle is owned by Digapahandi Notified Area Council (NAC) Vice-Chairman Pabitra Pradhan, who also sustained injuries in the accident.
All the injured persons were first rushed to a hospital at the Khorda district headquarters and later shifted to Bhubaneswar when their conditions deteriorated. Meanwhile, the Jankia police rushed to spot and sent the bodies for postmortem and started investigation into the incident.