Seven schoolchildren were killed and two others, including a student, were critically injured after an autorickshaw ferrying the kids was hit by a truck in Chhattisgarh’s Kanker district on Thursday, a senior police official said.

Earlier, the police said five children had died.

Eight students from a private school were going home in the auto when the accident took place on the Korar-Bhanupratappur Road around 3.10 pm under the Korar police station limits, the official said.

Five students died on the spot, while two others were pronounced dead at a nearby hospital, he said.

"One student and the auto driver are seriously injured and they have been taken to the state capital Raipur, about 140 km from Korar, for better medical assistance," the official said.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel expressed condolences over the death of the schoolchildren.

The administration has been directed to extend all possible help to the injured, he said in a tweet in Hindi.

“May God give courage to the family members,” added CM Baghel.

The truck driver fled the spot leaving behind the heavy vehicle, the official said. “We have launched a search to nab the truck driver,” he added.

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