At least five persons were killed and an equal number of people injured, when a truck they were travelling in, collided with a milk van near Alouli in Khagaria district on Sunday morning.

Four of the seriously injured, identified as Sudhir Sah, Sanjay Sah, Vicky Mahto and Mithilesh Sah, all residents of Bachhauta village in Khagaria district, have been admitted to the local Sadar hospital for treatment.

Police said the accident took place at 7am between Santosh and Chhatar Ghat on Alouli-Khagaria road, around 180km east of Patna.

The deceased were identified as Bipin Sah, Rajesh Sah, Kishor Sharma, Arvind Sharma and Rohit Sharma, all said to be residents of Bachhauta village. The driver of the dairy van, Vinay Kumar Singh, suffered serious injuries.

Agitated over the incident, a group of residents blocked the Alouli-Khagaria road and disrupted traffic for over six hours. They demanded adequate compensation for the families of those killed in the mishap.

Khagaria sub-divisional officer (SDO) Shiv Kumar Shaib told The Telegraph over phone: "Most of the victims were daily wagers and were returning home from Alouli when the truck carrying them met with an accident."

The station house officer (SHO) of Alouli police station, Sunil Kumar Sahni, said both the van and the truck had been seized. The bodies were lifted from the accident site and sent for post-mortem after the intervention of senior police and administrative officials, he added. The SHO said a contingent of armed police have been deployed at the site as a precautionary measure.