Three sales executives of a biscuit company posted in Bihar were killed when the car they were travelling in collided with a truck on National Highway 31 near Islampur in North Bengal on Thursday.

The driver of the car was also injured in the accident.

Police sources said Anand Kumar, 40, Anupam Kumar, 28, and Rajesh Gupta, 40, were employees of Britannia. They were returning to Bihar after attending a conference in Siliguri. Around 10am, the car had a head-on collision with a Siliguri-bound truck at Kalibari, 4km from Islampur.

While Anand died on the spot, Anupam and Rajesh succumbed to injuries after they were admitted to the sub-divisional hospital. The driver of the car, Ram Sujan Das, has been admitted to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital in Siliguri with injuries. The driver of the truck fled.

Anand was a resident of Purnea. Anupam was from Araria and Rajesh from Katihar district.

Anand’s cousin Pradip Ghosh said: “My sister is getting married this evening (Thursday) and Anand, who had gone to Siliguri for a conference, was eager to attend the ceremony. I do not know what to tell his parents and other relatives now.”

Additional police superintendent, Islampur, David Lepcha said the bodies would be handed over to families after a post-mortem.

The chief financial accountant of Britannia, Kamal Kundali, who was also in Siliguri for the conference, said: “The company will pay compensation to the deceased’s next of kin.”