A pickup van collided head-on with a truck in Durgapur upazila of Netrokona on Saturday night killing six students and injuring 20 others.

All those killed are students of Gauripur Hajee Amiruddin High School. Three of the deceased were identified as Arshadul, 14, Yasin, 8, and Hridoy, 17.

Three of the injured are in critical condition, doctors said

Netrokona’s police chief Akbar Ali Munshi confirmed the casualties at a media briefing at 10pm.

The accident took place around 9pm on Shamganj-Birishiri-Durgapur road at Kalapara market near Santipur village.

Forty-five students from Hajee Amiruddin High School, and Shalihar-e-Motaleb Beg Dakhil Madrasa, who had appeared in this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent exams, had come to visit Bijoypur on two pickups from Gouripur.

They were returning home when one of pickups collided with a truck. Arshadul, Yasin, and Hridoy were killed on the spot, police said.

A senior police officer of the district said they feared the death toll might rise.

Meanwhile, 15 people were killed in separate road accidents in several other districts on Saturday.