Four youngsters, including two minors, died in two separate accidents in Malda and Jalpaiguri districts during the past 24 hours.
In Malda, two higher secondary semester examinees died at Motiganj area under Ratua police station on Wednesday while they were on their way to the exam centre at Ratua High School.
Tanmay Pramanik and Md Rehan, both around 18 years old, were moving on a two-wheeler to reach the exam venue on time to write their English papers.
In a bid to overtake a vehicle going ahead of them, the two-wheeler collided head-on with a pick-up van around 9 am. The two-wheeler went under the van. Both examinees suffered critical injuries. Rushed to the rural hospital in Samsi, they were declared dead by doctors.
The duo were not wearing helmets, police sources said.
Tanmay's father, Tapan Pramanik, is a barber, and Sohel Rana, Rehan's father, is a farmer, said sources.
In the second acident, a group of boys was stopping vehicles in Jalpaiguri's Nathuahat area to collect donations for Durga Puja on Tuesday evening.
As they tried to stop a pick-up van on its way to Dhupguri from Nathuahat, the driver refused and drove off. This made three boys take a bike and chase the vehicle.
During the chase, the van rammed into the bike, and all three fell on the road. Residents took the trio to the subdivisional hospital in Dhupguri, where doctors pronounced Mainak Dutta, 16, and Partha Roy, 15, dead. The third boy is admitted to a super-specialty hospital in Jalpaiguri.
Youth found dead
Rupchan Oraon, 22, from Nidam tea estate in Jalpaiguri's Malbazar, was found dead in a drain of the garden on Wednesday. He had been missing since September 4.