Ranchi, May 6: A 21-year-old girl from the capital was among two engineering students of a private university in Bhubaneswar who were killed in a road mishap, around 20km from their institution on NH-203 (Bhubaneshwar-Puri) late last night.

Preeti Shalini, a final year B.Tech (IT) student of KIIT University, and her batchmate Debasmita Sahu from Calcutta were killed on the spot when the SUV they were travelling in turned turtle after hitting a divider near Lingipur Square under Dhauli police station in Bhubaneswar at 10pm yesterday.

Preeti was the daughter of former Dhalbhum SDO Kartik Kumar Prabhat, who is currently secretary to Dumka commissioner Dinesh Chandra Mishra.

"The university is closed for vacations and according to our information, they were going to Puri after taking permission from the university authorities," spokesperson for KIITS University Shradhanjali Nayak said.

According to inspector in-charge of Dhauli police station, Prabhat Chandra Pal, there were five persons, all students of the same university, in the SUV when it met with the accident.

"There were three girls and two boys in the speeding SUV. According to eyewitnesses, the driver seemed to have lost control and hit the divider. On reaching the spot, we took out the two bodies and rushed the critically injured to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar. The bodies of the two girls were kept in the mortuary of the hospital and were sent for post-mortem this morning after their parents arrived. We had informed the university authorities who got in touch with their parents," Pal said.

The SUV has been seized and a case of reckless driving has been lodged against the car owner.

Preeti's body will be brought to her Saraitand residence in Morabadi, Ranchi, in an ambulance for her last rites tomorrow.