Bhopal, July 19 : Three people were killed and two others injured in separate road accidents in Madhya Pradesh.

The first incident occurred on National Highway 44 in the Kurai police station area of Seoni district around 3 p.m., when a speeding truck rammed into a taxi parked on the roadside.

The force of the collision threw the vehicle into a roadside guard-wall lining the four-lane highway.

Two passengers, identified as 55-year-old Santkumar Hardiya and 50-year-old Ramkishore Barmaiya, lost their lives, one at the scene and the other at the hospital, police said.

Eight others suffered varying degrees of injuries, with one woman in critical condition transferred to Nagpur for advanced medical care.

The others are being treated at the Chhapara Community Health Centre. The truck has been seized and its driver, Ajit Yadav, arrested.

Kurai police station in-charge Kripal Singh Tekam confirmed that all passengers were traveling from Chhindwara Chowk in Seoni toward Khawasa, which initially complicated the identification of the deceased.

A case has been registered and investigations are ongoing. Later, the same day in Chhatarpur district, a bus en route from Chhatarpur to Damoh overturned in the Sathiya Valley near Hirapur.

The driver of the privately operated vehicle reportedly lost control and tipped over.

Thirty-year-old Damodar Singh Lodhi of Batiagarh was declared dead, while more than a dozen passengers were injured, police said.

One of the victims, 45-year-old Rama from Teacher Colony in Damoh, suffered a traumatic amputation.

Hirapur outpost in-charge Arvind Singh Thakur made prompt rescue efforts, ensuring the injured were taken to Shahgarh Community Health Centre.

Many have since been referred to the District Hospital in Sagar for further treatment. Both accidents have once again cast a spotlight on the frequency of high-impact collisions along MP's highways.

/IANS