Five persons were killed and six injured when an empty dumper truck hit an e-rickshaw and a two-wheeler after the driver of the truck lost control on a state highway in Purulia district on Friday night.

Police said four of the deceased were passengers and the driver of the e-rickshaw locally known as toto while the fifth victim was the motorcyclist. None of them was identified till Saturday night.

The incident occurred on Purulia-Barakar state highway at Bhamuria under the jurisdiction of Neturia police station around 10.30pm.

Local people said the truck was going to Barakar in West Burdwan from Purulia. The e-rickshaw and the two-wheeler were coming from the opposite direction.

“Suddenly the truck jumped off from the down lane to up lane and turned in the opposite direction. The truck first hit the toto and then the motorcycle from behind. The toto and the bike were almost crushed under the truck’s wheels,” said a witness.

Later, the truck rammed into a tree and came to a
halt. The driver managed to escape.

The local residents rushed the injured passengers to a nearby hospital but all were declared dead. The angry residents blocked the road and vandalised a bus that arrived in the area soon after the incident.

The blockade was lifted after the police intervened. But on Saturday morning, local people again blocked the highway demanding the arrest of the driver.

The police later assured them that a search was on to arrest the driver.