AURANGABAD/ARWAL Thirteen people, including three pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh, lost their lives and 31 others were injured in five road accidents in Aurangabad and Arwal districts of Bihar, police said on Monday.Three pilgrims were killed and 18 injured after a bus carrying 38 pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh rammed into an iron rods-laden truck parked at a roadside eatery on NH-19 under Mufassil police station area of Aurangabad district early on Monday. (HT photo)In the first accident, three pilgrims, including two women, were killed and 18 injured after a bus carrying 38 pilgrims from AP rammed into an iron rods-laden truck parked at a roadside eatery on NH-19 under Mufassil police station area of Aurangabad district early on Monday, police said.SHO Ashok Kumar said that the bus was going to Ayodhya from Gaya when the driver dozed off. The collision was so severe that the bus was completely mangled. Chavadam Hajratya Theta (50), Padma (43) and Pulleti Venkateshwarulu (64) of Sangam village in Nellor district, died on the spot.Around 18 pilgrims were trapped in the bus. They were pulled out with the help of locals and admitted to the Sadar Hospital at Aurangabad. Eight critically injured women were later referred to Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital in Gaya, the SHO added.The truck and the bus have been taken into police custody for investigation and the police have registered a case against the bus driver who is undergoing treatment. “An investigation is underway and action will be taken accordingly,” an officer said.In the second incident, three people from a family, including a woman and her daughter, were killed and as many injured after a car collided with a sand-laden tractor near Dadhpi Mor on NH-120 under Goh police station area of Aurangabad district early Monday, police said.SHO Rajeev Kumar said Mamta Kumari (45), her 18-year-old daughter Chulbul Kumari and the latter’s 17-year-old cousin lost their lives. “The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination and both the tractor and the car have been seized,” he said.The six occupants of the car were returning home after attending Madhushrava fair in Mehandia police station area in Arwal district when the accident happened. Eyewitnesses said that the tractor collided with the car while taking a turn. The tractor driver fled the scene after the accident.The three injured persons, including Kumari’s teenage son and daughter, and her relative were taken to Gaya Medical College and Hospital. Their family members have been informed and efforts are underway to trace and arrest the accused driver, police said.In the third incident, two people were killed and nine others injured in a head-on collision between a car and an auto-rickshaw near Tejpura on the Daudnagar-Barun Road under Obra police station limits in Aurangabad district on Sunday evening, police said.Those in the car were Rajesh Paswan and Umesh Paswan, both residents of Bhataulia village under Obra police station area. Both died on the spot. Those in the auto-rickshaw were returning home after working as labourers in Nasriganj Nagar Panchayat in Rohtas district.Police said that the auto-rickshaw was taking a turn towards Majhitawan Mor when a speeding vehicle coming from Daudnagar side rammed into it. Locals shifted all eleven to Daudnagar hospital where doctors declared two of them dead. Those injured are undergoing treatment.In the fourth accident, an employee of the National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was killed when his motorcycle collided head-on with a pickup vehicle in Nabinagar under the jurisdiction of NTPC Khaira police station in Aurangabad district on Monday, police said.SHO Parmjeet Mandal said that the body was sent to Aurangabad Sadar Hospital for post-mortem examination. “Police are investigating the cause of the accident and a manhunt has been launched to nab the pickup vehicle driver who fled the spot leaving the vehicle behind,” he said.In the fifth accident, four youths died and the driver was critically injured when he lost control of the car, running at a high speed, and it fell into a canal on Arwal-Patna Canal Road near Gandhi Maidan under Town police station area of Arwal district, police said on Monday.According to police, the vehicle’s windows and doors were closed when it fell into the canal. The occupants desperately tried to open the windows and doors from inside the car but the water pressure prevented them from opening and four of the five passengers died of suffocation.SHO Darbari Chaudhary said that police reached the spot and pulled out the car. The driver, Rohit, was rescued after breaking the window. He is being treated at Sadar Hospital in Arwal. Rishank Raj (23), Manoj Kumar (36), Rahul Kumar (30) and Aman Kumar (28) from Patna’s Bihta died.The families of the victims have been informed about the accident and they reached the hospital where bodies were being sent for post-mortem examination. Police were investigating all aspects of the accident after a case will be registered after that, the SHO said.(With agency inputs)