At least five were killed, and four critically injured in head-on collision between a Tata 407 and a truck on Kidderpore Road, near Fort William, late on Thursday night. Cops said the accident took place at 11.45 pm when the Tata 407, heading towards Metiabruz from Esplanade, collided with the truck coming from the opposite direction.

“At least nine passengers in the Tata 407 were flung in the air by the impact of the collision. While two died on the spot the rest succumbed to their injuries at SSKM hospital. A few of the injured are still battling for their lives," a police officer said.

The side of the truck was damaged and blood stains and tattered clothes lay strewn around the site of the crash. The truck driver escaped, but the driver of the Tata 407 took the injured to the hospital with the help of locals and police.