Lucknow: In a road accident on the Gorakhpur-Varanasi national highway near Barhalganj, four youths — including three cousins — were killed after their motorcycle collided head-on with an SUV on Saturday morning.

The impact was so severe that two of the victims were flung nearly 20 ft into the air, while the other two got trapped on the car's bonnet and were dragged for over 100 mt before the vehicle stopped.The accident occurred around 9:45 am when Sunil Kumar, Pradeep Kumar, Arvind Kumar and Rahul Kumar — all painters and residents of Garthauli Tola in Sidhuwapar gram sabha — were heading towards Gorakhpur city on a single motorcycle.

CCTV footage from the highway shows the bike overtaking a tractor-trolley moments before ramming into the oncoming SUV, which was travelling at high speed, the police said. The footage also captured the horrifying aftermath — two riders being hurled into the air upon impact, while the other two got stuck on the car's front side and were dragged along the highway as the driver failed to stop immediately.

The motorcycle was completely damaged in the collision.

Local residents rushed to the scene and informed the police and the victims' families. The injured were taken to the community health centre, where doctors declared Sunil, Pradeep and Arvind dead on arrival. Rahul was referred to the district hospital in critical condition but succumbed to his injuries en route.Family and neighbours said that Sunil, Pradeep and Rahul were cousins, while Arvind was a close friend who returned from Bengaluru just a week ago.

Rahul, the only son of his parents, was scheduled to get engaged on June 1. Sunil leaves behind two young daughters. Police said the SUV involved in the accident is registered to Nivedita Shukla, wife of Chandraprakash Shukla, a resident of Parigawa village under Shohratgarh police station in Siddharthnagar district. However, the driver fled the scene immediately after the accident and remains untraceable. CO Barhalganj, Manoj Kumar Pandey said, "A case has been registered, and efforts are underway to identify and apprehend the absconding driver.

"