Patna, Aug 23 (IANS) Eight people were killed and five others seriously injured after a truck collided with an auto-rickshaw in Bihar’s Patna district on Saturday.

According to police, the incident occurred when a speeding truck hit an auto-rickshaw carrying devotees from Malama village in Nalanda district to Fatuha for bathing in the Ganga River around 6 a.m.

The impact was so severe that the auto was completely mangled.

The fatal accident took place near the Shahjahanpur railway halt.

Local villagers immediately alerted police, who rushed to the scene and began relief and rescue operations.

The injured were first taken to a nearby hospital and later referred to Patna’s Nalanda Medical College and Hospital.

Eyewitnesses said that the truck driver fled the scene with the vehicle soon after the accident.

Police have launched a search operation to trace the driver. They are scanning the CCTV footage of the highway to trace the truck and its driver.

The Patna police are trying to identify the deceased.

Some of the injured persons have revealed their names, and accordingly, information about the tragedy was passed on to their family members.

The accident has cast a pall of gloom over the area. Locals described the sight as “horrific”, with families of the victims devastated as their “pilgrimage” to the Ganga River turned into a tragedy.

When contacted, a police officer said, “We have initial focus on the rescue of the victims. The errant driver will be arrested soon. We have launched the investigation to trace the truck and its driver,” he said.

“So far, we have informed the family members of the victims. They are expected to reach the hospital,” he said.

“We will register an FIR against the errant driver after receiving a complaint from the victims’ families,” he added.

–IANS

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