At least seven people were killed and five others were injured as a rice-laden truck from Dinajpur plunged into a roadside ditch along the Dhaka-Chittagong highway in the Hasanpur area under Daudkandi upazila in Cumilla early Tuesday.

Daudkandi highway police station officer-in-charhe Mohammad Iqbal Bahar Majumdar said that the accident occurred at about 2:45am.

The deceased are identified as Afzal Hossain, 35, Sohrab Hossain, 40, Abu Salek, 42, Suman Mia, 21, Bishu Mia, 34, Abu Hossain, 29, Abdur Rashid, 58, all from Dinajpur district, the police said.

The injured victims who are now undergoing treatment are Amir Ali, 45, Tarikul Islam, 50, Jalal Hossain, 37, Md. Aminul Islam, 38, and Jahangir Alam, 40.

All the victims are farm labourers and met the fatal accident on their way to Noakhali, the police said.

They said that the injured were initially taken to Daudkandi Upazila Health Complex.

As their conditions deteriorated, they were sent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Dr Nayan Dey of Daudkandi Upazila Health Complex said that the condition of the five injured individuals was serious.