Patna, Aug 13 : Five persons were killed when the car they were travelling in overturned and fell into a river in Bihar's Aurangabad district, said officials here on Tuesday.

The accident occurred in the Chaman Bigha village under the jurisdiction of the Daud Nagar police station, where the driver lost control of the overspeeding car resulting in the deaths of five individuals.

Among the deceased, four, including a teenage boy, are residents of Patna's Rajiv Nagar locality. The accident took place around 10 a.m., confirmed Faheem Azad Khan, the Station House Officer (SHO) of Daud Nagar police station.

According to Khan, the accident likely happened due to the car's high speed, causing it to overturn and plunge into the water-filled canal.

The district police quickly responded to the situation after receiving information about the accident, he said.

'We have recovered the bodies from the canal and have informed the families in Patna. The bodies have been sent for postmortem examination as the police continue their investigation into the accident,' Khan said.

The preliminary investigation into the fatal accident indicated that the car involved was overspeeding, causing the driver to lose control and ultimately leading to the vehicle falling into the Son Canal. The victims were returning home from Gupta Dham, where they had gone to offer a ritual, said the police officer.

The incident bears similarities to another tragic accident that occurred on June 2, where five friends lost their lives in a road accident. Those victims, residents of Dehri in Rohtas district, were on the way to a water park in Gaya when their car collided with a parked HIWA truck on National Highway 19. Like Tuesday's accident, the earlier crash was also attributed to overspeeding.

These incidents highlight the dangers of high-speed driving, emphasizing the importance of adhering to speed limits and exercising caution on the roads to prevent such tragedies, said the officials.

/IANS