Patna: A doctor from Bhagalpur died in a road accident with his wife and granddaughter in Purnea early on Saturday morning as they were travelling to Nepal through dense fog.

Dr Sudhir Kumar Mandal was on his way to Nepal through Purnea, around 320km east of Patna. The car they were travelling in was hit by a speeding truck from the opposite direction on the Sarsi-Kurshela state highway near Champawati bridge in Purnea district.

The driver could see the truck because of the dense fog, the local residents told police.

The doctor, his wife Rekha Sinha, their granddaughter Tikku and driver Abhay Kumar died in the mishap around 7.30am. Swati, Dr Mandal's daughter in-law, was also in the car and is struggling for life in a Purnea hospital.

Sarsi police station house officer Nand Kishore said the family was going to Viratnagar in Nepal from Sultanganj in Bhagalpur district to see a relative. The bodies were handed over to close relatives after post-mortem.

The driver of the truck that hit the doctor's car managed to flee the spot. "Efforts are on to ascertain identity of the driver whose negligence led to the accident," Nand Kishore added.

Traffic on the accident stretch remained disrupted for over two hours.

In another accident on Saturday, Nalanda resident Kiran Devi was killed when a speeding tractor hit her two-wheeler on the Rajgir-Gaya road as she was returning from the local market.

Kiran's daughter was injured in the accident and admitted to the Biharsharif hospital for treatment.