Six persons including two boys and a 60-year-old woman were killed and two others seriously injured when the auto-rickshaw they were travelling in was hit by a speeding DCM van near Jawaharnagar village on the National Highway 163 in Venkatapur mandal of Mulugu district early Saturday morning.
The deceased including Kausalya, 60, Jani, 23, driver of the autorickshaw, and two other boys hailed from Komatipalli village in Mangapet mandal, police said.
They were killed while returning to their village in the autorickshaw after their overnight stay at the Annaram Sharif dargah in Tadvai mandal.
Others who sustained critical injuries, were rushed to the MGM hospital in Warangal.
The impact of the head on collision was so severe that the autorickshaw virtually turned into a twisted metal wreckage with two bodies of the victims strewn across the accident site and others trapped inside the mangled vehicle.
The police have registered a case and are on the lookout for the driver of the DCM van, who is absconding.
