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New Delhi – Fifteen people returning from a wedding including the bride and groom were killed yesterday when their vehicle collided with a truck in eastern India, police said.“The small bus was carrying the groom’s family and friends back from the wedding in Birpara (a village) when it collided head on with the truck coming from the opposite direction,” superintendent of police Akash Meghariya said. The accident occurred near Madarihat village, about 665km north of Kolkata, capital of the eastern state of West Bengal.

“Twelve people including the bride and groom were killed on the spot,” Meghariya said. “Of the six others on the bus who were injured three died in hospital.”

The truck had been seized and its driver arrested, Meghariya said. The driver of the minibus was killed.

India has the highest number of traffic fatalities in the world. An average of 135,000 people die on the country’s roads each year, according to government data. – AP