Gorakhpur: In a road accident on Gorakhpur-Varanasi National Highway, four men died following high-speed collision between a bike and a car, at 9:45am near Barahalganj police station limits on Saturday.According to eyewitnesses, the impact of the collision was so severe that two of the bike riders were flung nearly 20 feet into the air, while the other two got trapped on the car's bonnet and were dragged for almost 100 meters before the vehicle came to a halt. The car driver abandoned the vehicle and fled the scene immediately after the accident.The deceased were identified as Sunil Kumar, Pradyumn Kumar, Arvind Kumar and Rahul Kumar, all residents of Garthauli Tola in Sidhwapar Gram Sabha.

The four friends, all whitewash labourers, were en route to Gorakhpur city on a single motorcycle when the bike collided head-on with the speeding SUV whose driver was trying to overtake a tractor.Villagers rushed to the scene and informed police and families. The victims were taken to community health centre where Sunil, Pradyumn and Arvind were declared dead. Rahul succumbed to injuries en route the district hospital. Neighbours said Pradyumn, Arvind and Rahul were relatives, while Sunil was a close friend. Rahul, the only child of his parents, was scheduled to be engaged on June 1.CO Manoj Kumar Pandey confirmed FIR was lodged and efforts are on to trace the absconding driver. TNN