AHMEDABAD: Five members of a family were killed, while a two-year-old boy escaped miraculously with minor injuries after two cars collided in Bharuch district of Gujarat on Wednesday, police said.
The accident occurred near Hansot village in the afternoon, they said.
A total of six persons, including the two-year-old boy, were travelling in one car from Bharuch to Surat when the incident took place, inspector Karansinh Chudasama of Hansot police station said.
The toddler survived the crash and suffered minor injuries.
The driver of the other car was also injured in the accident, he said, adding that four of the deceased were women.
The deceased included elderly couple Imtiyaz Patel and his wife Salmaben, their married daughters - Maria and Afifa - and the wife of Imtiyaz Patel's brother, Jamila Patel.
All of them resided in Bharuch and were going towards Surat.
The minor boy, who was Maria Patel's son, survived the collision and was admitted to a nearby hospital by the local police.
The police rushed to the spot immediately after the accident, Chudasama said, adding that Imtiyaz Patel, who was in his late 50s, was driving the car and was also wearing a seat-belt at the time of accident.
"While one car, driven by one Hitendrasinh, was going towards Bharuch from Surat, the Patel family was going in the opposite direction. The road near Hansot is straight and does not have any dangerous curves. Our preliminary probe suggests that Patel lost control of his car while overtaking a vehicle and went straight into the opposite lane," Chudasama said.
"Though airbags of both the cars worked properly during the accident, five of Patel's family died on the spot, while Hitendrasinh and the toddler survived the crash," he added.
