Seventeen people, including a six-year-old child, were killed on Sunday morning when the mini-truck they were travelling in to a crematorium collided with a truck in Nadia’s Hanshkhali.

The tragedy occurred on the Bogula-Krishnagar Road shortly after midnight. It injured 15 people, all of whom are residents of Parmadan village in North 24-Parganas’s Bagdah.

“The accident occurred in the Phulbari-Shimultala area of Hanshkhali and involved a group of 32 people who were going to perform the last rites for Shib Rani Muhuri, 92, a native of Parmadan, who had died at her daughter’s home in Gopalnagar,” said a police officer.

Sources said the deceased included 10 members of the Muhuri family, who along with neighbours had left Bagda for the Nabadwip crematorium with Muhuri’s body around 11.30pm, shortly after the hearse had arrived in Parmadan.

President Ram Nath Kovind, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union home minister Amit Shah and Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee condoled the deaths in statements issued on Twitter.

The Centre and the state government each announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of all deceased people.

Residents of Hanshkhali’s Phulbari reportedly woke up to the “crushing sound” of the collision around 1am and came out of their homes to the “sight of bodies” strewn across the crash site.

Police rushed the victims to Bogula rural hospital, from where most were immediately transferred to Nadia district hospital in Krishnagar. At Krishnagar, 13 victims were declared dead on arrival, whereas four others succumbed to injuries after their admission. The deceased included seven women.

The police could not immediately ascertain the cause of the accident in the apparent absence of eyewitnesses.

Later on Sunday, the police said it appeared prima facie that the driver of the mini-truck had failed to notice the truck laden with stone chips amid possible fog and had been driving at a high speed himself. The driver of the mini-truck was among those who died in the accident.

The police detained the driver of the stone-chip truck for interrogation. That vehicle was reportedly heading towards Bagda to deliver the consignment.

Ranaghat superintendent of police Sayak Das said: “It is not clear how the accident occurred. But it appears the mini-truck was at a very high speed and the impact of the collision was very strong.”

Another cop said: “The driver has been killed in the accident. We are waiting for his autopsy report to arrive at a possible conclusion for the reason behind the accident.”

Das and DIG Murshidabad range Sunil Kumar Choudhary visited the accident spot, where the local people alleged police inaction regarding reckless driving and parking of trucks that often caused accidents.

Lying in a hospital bed in Krishnagar, Swapan Muhuri, 53, son of Rani Muhuri, said: “We had planned to take my mother to Nabadwip for the last rites according to her wishes. The incoming truck seemed to be speeding, and that is the last thing I saw.”

“I regained consciousness in Krishnagar and heard that 10 members of our family died in the accident, along with seven others,” he added.

Relatives of the victims have alleged negligence in the treatment of victims at the district hospital.

Bancharam Biswas, a resident of Bagda, said: “The injured persons arrived at the Krishnagar hospital around 1.45am. They were left unattended for about five hours.”