Kasargod: Two persons died and nearly 17 others were injured after a Tempo Traveller collided with a mini-lorry on the National Highway at Poinachi here on Sunday, April 3.

The deceased have been identified as Ajith (21) from Pilicode, and Sharath (22) from Pallikere. Five others were critically injured in the accident.

Sujith Kumar (26), Sunil Kumar (32), Vishwanath (34) Rafi (23), Saiju (26), Pramod (21), Ramya (27) and Mehboob (24) were admitted to a hospital at Mangaluru, while Satish (22), Sudish (19), Akhil (20), Rakesh (22) and Reshma (22) were admitted to a hospital in Kasargod.

The tempo traveler was plying from Trikkaripura to Mangaluru while the mini-lorry was moving towards Bovikanam when the accident took place.

Tempo Traveller had 11 passengers including Ajith and the mini-lorry had 8 along with Sharath.

Following the accident, traffic came to a halt. Locals and firemen rushed to the spot and shifted the injured to hospital.