Patna: Four people, including three members of a family, died and six others sustained injuries in a head-on collision between a speeding pickup van and an autorickshaw near Nayka Tola under Sugauli police station in East Champaran district on Wednesday.According to police, the accident occurred on the Chhapwa–Bettiah road when an autorickshaw coming from Chhapwa was hit by a pickup van from the opposite direction. The impact was severe, leaving the autorickshaw mangled. Locals rushed to the spot after hearing screams, pulled out the injured and alerted police.The deceased were identified as Rubina Khatoon (30), Ayesha Khatoon (22), Jayad Khan (7), and Bhairon Sah (36), the auto driver.Sugauli SHO Avnish Singh reached the spot with a police team and supervised rescue operations. “A pickup van and an autorickshaw collided near Nayka Tola on the Chhapwa–Bettiah road. Four people died. The injured were sent to the community health centre. Both vehicles have been seized and an investigation is underway,” Singh said.All the injured were initially taken to Sugauli community health center. Four of them — Chand Khan, Shankar Kumar Sharma, Rifat Praveen and Manat Praveen — were later referred to GMCH Bettiah due to critical injuries. The bodies have been sent to Motihari Sadar Hospital for postmortem.Police said the pickup van driver fled the spot, abandoning the vehicle. A search has been launched to nab him.Eyewitnesses said the pickup van was speeding and attempted to overtake another vehicle before crashing into the coming autorickshaw. The accident led to a brief traffic disruption on the stretch, which was later cleared by the police.
