At least eight persons, including two women, were killed and six others seriously injured when the autorickshaw they were travelling in collided head-on with a truck on National Highway 31 near Noorsarai in Nalanda district on Tuesday.

The mishap occurred early morning when the victims, all residents of Paithla village under the jurisdiction of Bena police station, were on way to Biharsharif, the district headquarters town of Nalanda, around 68km southeast of Patna.

The police said that a truck coming from the opposite direction hit the autorickshaw, which subsequently fell into a ditch near a bridge on NH-31. While eight persons died on the spot, six suffered serious injuries. The injured were rushed to Biharsharif Sadar hospital for treatment.

The deceased have been identified as Basant Ravidas, Lalan Ravidas, Ramdev, Anandi Bind, Jai Choudhary, Sharmila Devi, Mahesh and Laxminia Devi. Those admitted to the Sadar hospital have been identified as Pintu Kumar, Rajmati Devi, Pramod Kumar, Parvati Kumari, Laxmi Devi and Raman Bind.

The police said three of the critically injured were later referred to Patna Medical College and Hospital. All the victims were casual labourers, who used to go to Biharsharif for work. The driver of the truck, however, managed to escape with the vehicle.

Nalanda superintendent of police Siddharth Mohan Jain said a complaint had been lodged with the Sohsarai police station against unidentified persons.