Bhubaneswar, June 10: Eight persons, including a 14-year-old girl, died and two suffered injuries when the auto-rickshaw in which they were travelling collided with a highway dump truck that was coming from the opposite side on the Jagatsinghpur-Machhagaon Road near Chandol Chhak in Jagatsinghpur early this morning.

The deceased have been identified as Surendra Das, 51, Sarat Chandra Pal, 39, Dhaneswar Sahu, 50, Chandramani Sahu, 45, Bholanath Jena, 48, Sudhir Behera, 46, and his 14-year-old daughter Jagyaseni. All of them died at the spot while the driver of the autorickshaw, Dhirabara Das, 45, succumbed to his injuries at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.

The injured duo are undergoing treatment at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. Doctors said their condition was serious.

Police said all the victims were natives of Singitalia village in Machhagaon area of Jagatsinghpur. They were returning home after atten-ding the maha snan yatra (bat-hing ceremony) of Lord Jagannath at Nemala in Cuttack.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik conveyed his condolences to the bereaved family members of the deceased. He announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh for the family members of each of the deceased and free treatment for the injured.

"The dump truck, which was coming from the opposite direction, lost control and first hit a tree. Then, it hit the auto-rickshaw from the front. The impact of the collision was so severe that the autorickshaw was flung to some distance. All the 10 victims were rushed to the Jagatsinghpur District Headquarters Hospital, where seven were declared dead on arrival. The other three were referred to SCB Medical College and Hospital where the driver succumbed to his injuries," said a police officer.

Jagatsinghpur police superintendent Jai Narayan Pankaj said the dump truck had been seized and the driver of the vehicle arrested.

"Accidents on this particular stretch of the road are very rare. The auto-rickshaw started its journey from Cuttack around 3am. So, we are trying to ascertain if the auto-rickshaw driver had dozed off while driving, leading to the accident. We are probing into the matter," said Pankaj.

Villagers staged a roadblock following the accident demanding compensation for the family members of the deceased. The blockade was lifted after intervention of the police and the district administration.