A pick-up van with at least 10 persons, mostly flower growers from West Midnapore's Debra who were headed for Kolaghat in East Midnapore, met with an accident that killed six of them in Kharagpur hours before daybreak on Saturday.

Those killed included the driver of the van and five flower growers who meant to carry their produce to a market at Kolaghat ahead of Lakshmi Puja. At the time of the accident, the van was standing on the road as the growers were loading the flowers.

The police said that the deceased flower growers were Kushadja Kar, 45, Kalipada Das, 36, Nantu Das, 38, Manas Bagh, 37, and Toton Patra, 30.

The deceased driver of the pick-up van remains unidentified.

All the flower growers were from Muksudpur and Keusi villages under Kharagpur local police station.

This accident occurred around 3am on Saturday when a cement-laden truck hit the stationary pick-up van from behind on NH16 at Buramala Bazar near the Debra toll plaza under Kharagpur rural police station.

As the truck hit the van from behind, the smaller vehicle fell into a ditch under the impact, trapping the already-injured occupants.

Local residents and police started a rescue operation. However, six persons, who were recovered eventually, were found dead. Four flower growers were found seriously injured and shifted to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital.

The truck has been impounded by the police of Kharagpur rural police station. The truck driver is absconding.

Injured Uttam Bagh said: "We were going to Kolaghat with flowers to sell ahead of Lakshmi Puja. We were loading flowers in a pickup van on the side of the national highway at Buramala Bazar. A cement-laden truck that was heading to Kolaghat came at a high speed from behind and rammed into our pickup van. The van fell into the nearby ditch and those on it were drowned along with the van. I was thrown out of the van and I landed in the mud nearby. I don't know when I passed out."

An investigating police officer of Kharagpur rural police station said that the accident might have occurred due to thick fog cover and poor visibility at that time of the day.

A pall of gloom descended on the villages as news of the accident reached them.

Malda accident

A woman and her minor daughter died in a road accident in Malda on Saturday when the e-rickshaw they were in was rammed by a speeding truck.

Three other passengers of the same e-rickshaw were injured.

Police seized the truck and arrested the driver.