Jaipur, July 2: A child died and Hema Malini suffered gashes on her forehead when the Mercedes-Benz the actress-MP was travelling in and an Alto collided in Rajasthan tonight.

Hema, 66, was rushed to Jaipur's Fortis Hospital, where a police officer said she was out of danger and that doctors had not spoken of any grievous injuries.

The child who died, a passenger of the Alto, was later identified as Sonam, aged 4. Her brother Shyanu and mother Seema were also in the car besides the driver and his wife. All four were injured.

Hema received a stitch on her head but was doing fine, according to an aide.

Sources said the BJP MP from Mathura was on her way to Jaipur from her constituency when the accident took place in Dausa, around 60km from Jaipur, on National Highway 11. It was near Dausa that Rajesh Pilot, the Congress leader, was killed at 55 in an accident in 2000. Pilot was then representing Dausa in the Lok Sabha.

TV footage showed Hema - whose cheeks had once prompted Lalu Prasad to say that he wanted to make Bihar's roads as smooth as them - bleeding from the forehead above the right eye.

A doctor, who was passing by in another car, drove Hema to hospital. Dr Shiv Sharma said the actress was in pain and had suffered injuries to her eyes, back and legs. "She was constantly saying, 'Please drive faster'," he recalled.

The Alto was coming from the opposite direction and was taking a turn when it collided with Hema's car around 8.50pm, a Dausa district official said.

Another eyewitness said the Alto was entering the highway from a side road when the collision occurred.