Cooch Behar, 03 May (H.S.): At least two persons were killed and four others seriously injured in a head-on collision between a car and a passenger auto-rickshaw in West Bengal’s Cooch Behar district on Sunday morning, the police said.

The accident took place in the Rajarhat area along National Highway 17, when a private four-wheeler coming from Pundibari collided with an auto-rickshaw carrying passengers from Khagrabari, both heading towards the same direction, sources said.

The impact of the collision was so severe that the auto-rickshaw overturned multiple times and its front portion was split into two. The front side of the car was also badly mangled, they added.

Local residents rushed to the spot after hearing a loud crash and rescued the occupants from both vehicles. The injured were taken to Cooch Behar Medical College and Hospital, where doctors declared two persons dead.

Four others are undergoing treatment, with the condition of two stated to be critical, hospital sources said.

The police have seized both the vehicles and initiated an investigation into the incident. Preliminary findings suggest that both vehicles were travelling at high speed, which may have led to the accident, officials added.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Priyanka Pandey