At least seven members of a family were killed and five were seriously injured when a speeding SUV rammed into a stationary container truck on the Grand Trunk Road (National Highway-2) in Bihar’s Rohtas district on Wednesday.

The incident occurred near a petrol pump at Pakhnari under Shivsagar police station in Rohtas around 3.30am.

The crash was so severe that the SUV turned into a mangled heap of metal and its front half got trapped beneath the container truck. It had to be pulled out with the help of a hydra machine used to move heavy goods.

One Suddheshwar Sharma of Sabar village in Kaimur district had purchased the SUV around two days ago and his family paid a visit to Bodh Gaya. They were returning home when the mishap occurred.

The deceased have been identified as Arvind Kumar Sharma, 45, his wife Rani Premlata Priyadarshini, 42, daughter Riya Kumari, 12, son Aditya Kumar, 9, nieces Tara Kumari, 22, and Chandni Kumari, 20, and mother-in-law Rajmati Devi.

Suddheshwar is among the injured along with four other members of his family.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar termed the incident a “very sad one” and expressed grief over the loss of lives. He also gave directions to the officials to ensure proper medical treatment for the people injured in the mishap.

“We rushed to the spot after getting information about the accident and started the rescue and relief operation. Six persons had died on the spot, while another died on the way to the hospital,” Shivsagar station house officer (SHO) Sanjay Kumar said.

“The injured were taken to Sasaram Sadar hospital, where they were referred to higher medical centres for better treatment. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem,” Sanjay added.