As many as 11 people were killed and 15 others injured in two separate accidents in Punjab on Sunday.
Seven people lost their lives when the driver of a speeding sport utility vehicle lost control over it and hit vehicles parked outside a roadside eatery in Beas town, around 40 km from Amritsar.
The victims were sitting in a stationary auto-rickshaw when the SUV hit it.
As many as 16 persons, all from Hoshiarpur district, were travelling to Amritsar in a three-wheeler and a car to pay obeisance at Golden Temple. The pilgrims had stopped for refreshment at a dhaba on the national highway (NH) 1, when the SUV hit the them.
According to sources, the driver of the speeding SUV, while trying to overtake a tipper, lost control of the car and collided with the stationary vehicles near the dhaba. The impact of the collision was so powerful that five pilgrims died on the spot. Driver of the SUV sustained minor injuries.
The police said that further investigations are underway.
In another incident, four persons were killed and 15 others injured in a collision between a state-run Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) bus and a truck on the Rampura Phul-Barnala highway on Sunday morning.
Three persons died on the spot, while one succumbed to injuries at a Rampura Phull hospital.
The PRTC bus travelling towards ludhiana collided with a truck coming from opposite side at about 7 am.
Maur Deputy Superintended of Police (DSP) Davinder Singh said that the cause of mishap was not immediately known.