ITAHARI: As many as three persons died after the scooter they were riding on collided with an ambulance in Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City-4 along the Itahari-Dharan road section in Sunsari district on Sunday night.

The deceased have been identified as Duk Bahadur Karki (45) of Itahari Sub-Metropolitan City-2 in the district, Nirman Gautam (40) and Sarita Kafle (41) both the residents of Bhairavsthan Riddhi Rural Municipality in Palpa district, informed the Eastern Regional Traffic Police Office, Itahari.

The incident occurred when the ambulance (Ko 1 Cha 7009) en route from Dharan to Itahari collided head-on with the scooter (Ko 22 Pa 467) heading in a northward direction  from Itahari killing the scooter riders in Halgada at 11:15 pm last night, according to Police.

The critically injured trio succumbed to injuries on the way to a hospital in Dharan for treatment, informed police.

The bodies of the deceased have been kept at the Dharan-based BP Koirala Institute of Health Sciences, added traffic police.

Meanwhile, Itahari-based Area Police office has impounded the four-wheeler and detained its driver Sunil Khadka for further investigation, said police.