ITAHARI: Two persons died and three others sustained critical injuries in separate accidents in Sunsari district on Wednesday night.

The deceased have been identified as Upendra Ghimire (25) of Ramdhuni Municipality-4 and Kuntosh Chaudhary (25) of Duhabi Municipality-4 in the district, according to the Eastern Regional Traffic Police Office (ERTPO), Itahari.

The motorcycle (Ko 11 Pa 8085) heading in an eastward direction along the East-West Highway collided head-on with the car (Ba 13 Cha 3341) killing the pillion rider Upendra Ghimire and injuring the motorcyclist Kamal Ghimire in Itahari-17 at around midnight yesterday, the ERTPO informed.

Motorcyclist Ghimire breathed his last while undergoing treatment at the Dharan-based BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences while the injured motorcyclist is undergoing treatment, police said.

In a separate incident, Chaudhary died after the motorcycle (Ko 20 Pa 6059) he was riding on collided head-on with the truck bearing Indian number plate (W B 15 A 7995) at Danda chok in Duhabi Municipality-4 at 11:30 pm yesterday. The motorcyclist Sanjay Sah, pillion riders Krishna Bishwas and Chaudhary were rushed to the Biratnagar-based Golden Hospital where the latter succumbed to injuries during the course of treatment.

Police have impounded both the vehicles and held the car driver for further investigation into the incidents. Moreover, the search is on for the truck driver who fled the scene after the incident, police informed.