16 killed in Bengal accident

Kolkata  :  At least 16 people, most of them returning from a wedding party, were killed early Tuesday when the vehicle carrying them collided with a truck in West Bengal’s Malda district, police said.

The sports utility vehicle (SUV) collided head-on with a speeding truck in Eight Mile area of Malda town.

While police identified 13 bodies of the people who were aboard the SUV and were returning from a wedding, the identity of three people who died of injuries in a hospital are yet to be established, said Malda Superintendent of Police Kalyan Mukherjee.

The injured were admitted to the Malda Medical College and Hospital.

Tourism Minister Krishnendu Narayan Chowdhury said the government announced payment of Rs.2 lakh each for the families of the dead and that it will also bear the medical expenses of the injured.

In another accident in Gazole in the same district, two people were killed and two others injured when their vehicle collided with a stationary truck.