Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh), March 27 Five members of a family died and four others, including two children, were injured after a sports utility vehicle (SUV) being chased by police for reckless driving crashed into an auto-rickshaw in Gwalior early on Friday, police said.
The driver of the SUV, which was trying to escape after being involved in another incident, has been arrested, they said.
The accident occurred around 2:50 am at Parshuram Chauraha when the victims were returning in an auto from the Sheetla Mata temple on the occasion of Ram Navami, Gwalior Zone Inspector General of Police Arvind Saxena told
The impact pushed the auto-rickshaw against a neem tree, leaving it severely damaged, locals said. After being alerted, police took the victims to a hospital, where four persons were declared dead, officials said, adding that one more victim succumbed later.
According to IG Saxena, the SUV was being chased by police after it had hit an e-rickshaw earlier near a bus stand.
The deceased were identified as Indrajeet Shakya (55), his wife Leela (52), Shubham Kashyap (30), his wife Shagun (25), all local residents, and their relative Pinky Kashyap (60), who hailed from Meerut in Uttar Pradesh. All belong to one family, they said.
The injured were identified as Preeti (20), Priyansh (5), Aarav (6) and the auto driver Rajesh Kumar (28), police said.
Saxena said that police have arrested Aman Sharma (26), who was driving the SUV.
On Thursday evening, ten people were killed and 31 were injured in a collision between a bus and a pick-up vehicle in the Chhindwara district, police had said.