Three persons were killed in the early hours of Friday when a speeding car rammed into a truck from the rear on the Lucknow-Delhi highway in Uttar Pradesh's Bareilly, police said.

The victims were from Gopalganj, Bihar and were headed to New Delhi, a police officer said.

He said the truck (UP 21 N 9856), which was carrying buffaloes, suddenly applied brakes near a roadside eatery. The driver in the car (DL 9C 5280) coming from behind could not apply the brakes on time and smashed into the truck. The truck driver fled.

The deceased have been identified as Dilip Singh (48), his wife Vidya Devi (45) and his mother Munni Devi (65). The bodies have been sent for post-mortem, the officer said.