The mangled car at Tangi on Monday. Picture by Badrika Nath Das

Cuttack/Tamluk, May 21: Five persons, including three of a family, from Bengal’s Midnapore district were killed and two others seriously injured when the Maruti Omni, in which they were travelling, hit a stationary bus from behind at Khairapalli near Tangi, about 12km from here, around 6am today.

Those killed were identified as Srikrishna Maity, 42, his younger brother Gourhari, 40, brother-in-law, Tapan Maity, 37, a neighbour, Mukul Bhattacharya, 42, and the driver, Anup Maity, 32.

Srikrishna’s elder son, Shibaprasad, 17, and another brother-in-law, Lakshmikanta Maity, 45, were injured and admitted to SCB Medical College and Hospital. They had come to the city to seek medical assistance for Srikrishna, at a nursing home.

Police said three persons died on the spot while two others died on their way to SCB Medical College and Hospital.

Family members of Srikrishna, a mason and resident of Palpara village, said that he had had a fall a few months ago and injured his waist. “I don’t know how the accident occurred as I was sleeping beside my father on the rear seat,” said Sibaprasad.

“My father had fallen from a height while working and was injured in the waist. He was treated by a local doctor and became well, but a few days ago, his left leg started becoming numb. My father decided to go to Cuttack Medical College and Hospital for treatment. I never dreamt that he and our other relatives would be killed like this,” said Biswajit, a Class X student, who did not accompany his father.

“They had come to Cuttack for treatment. They had contacted me yesterday and asked to be present at the nursing home as I used to stay in the city and could easily communicate with the doctors in Odia,” said Ravindra Jana, a local relative.

Jana, who also hails from Sopan, has been working as a vendor in the city for the past five years. “On hearing about the incident, I have informed other family members of the deceased, who will arrive late in the evening,” Jana said.

A senior police officer in Cuttack said: “It is suspected that the accident occurred because of the driver’s carelessness and over speeding. Following the incident, efforts were initiated to rush the injured to hospitals,” said a senior police official.

A total of seven persons, including the driver, were travelling in the Omni bearing the registration number WB24K9201.

A police officer in East Midnapore said the news of the mishap reached a petrol pump at Palpara village around 8am.

“Before leaving for Cuttack, the driver of the Omni had filled the tank at the petrol pump. Some one from the accident site had found the cash memo in the driver’s pocket and called up the pump around 8am to give the news of the accident as well as the number of the Omni,” said the officer.

“It was around 10am today that the police contacted Srikrishna’s family members,” said the officer.

Another police officer said that the driver of the Omni was married a week ago.