Dhenkanal, Sept. 11: Three persons, including a woman, died in an accident on the National Highway No. 55 at Balaramprasad, 30km from here, in the early hours today.

The accident took place when a speeding truck collided head on with a Tata Indigo, in which the deceased were travelling. The car was badly damaged. The deceased were identified as Sarbeswar Sahu, 35, Omm Iswrai Kabikanya, 34, and the driver, Kiran Bhakta, 30. While the passengers were from Talcher town, the driver hailed from a village in the neighbouring Angul district.

Police said the loaded truck, which was on its way to Angul from Cuttack, was trying to avoid a big pothole in the middle of the road when the accident took place.

"It seemed that the truck turned right and collided head on against the car, killing the three on the spot. The truck was seized, but its driver fled," said inspector in-charge, Motanga police station, Jitendra Sahu.

The police said Sahu and Kabikanya were siblings, who were on their way to appear in an examination in Bhuba-neswar. Both worked at a computer institute at Talcher.

The exam was scheduled to start at 7.30am and that is why they left home around 2.30am. They had hardly covered 50 kilometres when they met with the accident. Traffic on the route was affected for some time after the mishap.