Hyderabad, March 4 (IANS) Five persons were killed when a car they were travelling in rammed into a tree in Telangana’s Wanaparthy district early Monday.

The accident occurred on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru national highway near Kothakota when the speeding car went out of control and hit a roadside tree. Seven others were injured in the incident.

Three children were among those killed. The deceased were identified as Yasir (7 months), Bushra (2 years), Maria (5 years), Abdul Rehman (62) and Saleema Bee (85).

The injured were shifted to hospitals and the condition of three of them is stated to be critical. The injured were identified as Sameera (5), Hussain (10), Sahfi, Khadeerunnisa, Habeeb, Ali and Shahjan Baig.

Six of the injured were shifted to a hospital in Kurnool in Andhra Pradesh. One person was admitted to the Wanaparthy hospital.

The victims hailed from Bellary district of Karnataka. The family was returning to Bellary after attending a wedding in Hyderabad.

According to police the accident occurred between 2.30 a.m. and 3 a.m. Twelve people were travelling in the car. Police suspect that the driver dozed off which led to the crash.

The car was badly mangled in the collision. The rescue workers had to struggle for more than an hour to pull out the bodies and rescue the injured.