Eleven persons, including five women and two children, were killed when a sports utility vehicle (SUV) they were travelling in collided with a truck in Chhattisgarh's Balod district, police said on Thursday.

Ten of the deceased belonged to one family, they said, adding that the accident took place near Jagtara village under Purur police station area on National Highway-30 on Wednesday night.

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel expressed grief over the tragedy and announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the kin of each deceased.

The victims, natives of Soram-Bhatgaon village in Dhamtari district, were on their way to a wedding ceremony, police said.

"The victims were going to attend a wedding in Markatola village of Kanker district when their vehicle collided head on with the truck," said Arun Kumar Sahu, Station House Officer of Purur police station.

While ten occupants of the Mahindra Bolero died on the spot, a child succumbed to injuries while being shifted to a hospital, he said.

The deceased were identified as Dharmaraj Sahu (55), his wife Usha Sahu (52), their son Keshav Sahu (34), Keshav's wife Tomin (33), Lakshmi Sahu (45), her son Shailendra (22), her daughter Rama (20), Sandhya Sahu (24), her two sons Yogyansh (3) and Ishant (one-and-a-half years) and Damesh Dhruv (19), he said.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, he said, adding that efforts were on to trace the truck driver who fled from the spot leaving his vehicle behind.

The exact reason behind the accident is yet to be known. An accidental death report has been registered and further investigation is underway, the police officer added.

In a tweet, CM Baghel said, "Ten members of Sahu family and another-Damesh Dhruv ji, died in the road accident near Balodgahan between Purur and Charma in Balod. I announce an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to kin of each of the deceased as an assistance. This is a very sad incident. We are all united in this grief."

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