Beed, March 27 A woman and a man, believed to be mother and son, were killed after their car caught fire following a collision with a tipper truck in Beed district, Maharashtra, on Friday, police said.
The incident occurred around 10:30 am near the Kapsi village on the Beed-Ahilyanagar state highway, they said.
Citing preliminary reports, police said a man and a woman from the Ambajogai tehsil were travelling towards Beed when a speeding truck carrying stone grit, heading towards Doithan, collided with their car from the opposite direction.
The impact was so severe that the car's engine caught fire almost instantly. Witnesses said either a failure of the central locking system or the damaged condition of the vehicle prevented the two occupants from escaping.
"The fire spread so rapidly that by the time locals could reach the spot to attempt a rescue, the duo was already engulfed in flames," an official said, adding that both victims died on the spot.
The accident caused a brief traffic jam on the highway as a large crowd gathered. Police are trying to trace the truck driver who fled the scene following the accident, the official said.