Baku, February 1, AZERTAC

At least nine people were killed and over a dozen others injured when a vehicle carrying them hit a tree and overturned in India's eastern state of Odisha, police said Monday, according to Xinhua.

The accident took place on Sunday night at Kotpad in Koraput district, about 554 km southwest of Bhubaneswar, the capital city of Odisha. All the deceased were reported to be women.

"Last night a pickup vehicle carrying passengers skidded off the road hitting a tree and overturned on road, killing nine people on spot and injuring 13 others," a police official said.

Following the accident, locals alerted the police and helped them in removing the injured from the spot.

"The injured people with the help of local villagers were rescued. First, the victims were rushed to Kotpad hospital and later they were referred to another hospital," the police official said.

Police said all the victims were hailing from neighboring Chhattisgarh state and had come to Odisha to attend some mourning ritual of a relative.

Police have registered a case and ordered an investigation to ascertain the cause of the accident. Preliminary reports suggest the vehicle was being driven at a higher speed.

According to federal road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari, an average of 415 people die in the country due to road accidents per day.

Deadly road accidents are common in India often caused due to overloading, bad condition of roads and reckless driving.