Three persons died on spot when a goods truck allegedly rear-ended a motorcycle carrying four persons in Murshidabad’s Beldanga on Friday afternoon.

Sources said both the vehicles were speeding in the same direction and the truck reportedly nicked the motorcycle’s rear. None of the bike riders had a helmet on.

The accident took place on the Behrampore-bound flank of NH12 near Beldanga market. “It was not a collision, rather the motorcycle got deflected from the rear and careened out of control after the hit,” said an eyewitness.

The deceased were identified as Asnal Sheikh, 32, Monika Biwi, 24, and Jarina Biwi, 29. The fourth rider was a three-year-old girl, who survived the incident and was discharged from Beldanga rural hospital after treatment.

Asnal and Monika, and Jarina reportedly died on the spot from head injuries and were declared brought dead at the Beldanga rural hospital. The girl and her parents hailed from Malihati. They had come to Beldanga to visit Jarina, a Nalkonda native, and to visit a pediatrician, the source said.

“If the riders had helmets on, they would probably have survived. There were no injury marks on their bodies but the blood loss through the nose was severe,” said a police officer.

“When a police team reached the spot, eyewitnesses had already rushed the victims to hospital,” district police superintendent K. Sabari Rajkumar said.

The police chief reiterated the importance of helmets and the potential role the gear could have played in this particular incident.

The police have seized the truck and detained its driver.