RAEBARELI: Three persons, including a seven-year-old girl, were killed and five others seriously injured after an SUV rammed into a tractor-trolley on the Ganga Expressway near Mirzahanpur village here, police said on Wednesday.

The accident took place late Tuesday night under the Salon police station area when the speeding Scorpio, travelling from Delhi to Jaunpur, hit a tractor-trolley that was crossing the road, they said.

The impact severely damaged the SUV and trapped several occupants inside. Locals and rescue personnel pulled out the injured and rushed them to hospital.

The deceased were identified as Saroj Singh (55), Samriddhi (7) and Sangeeta Singh (22), all residents of Bhilampur village in Jaunpur district, police said.

Five injured persons -- Gurucharan Singh, his wife Pratima Singh, Neeraj Singh, his wife Savita Singh, and a three-year-old -- were initially taken to the Community Health Centre in Sangramgarh in Pratapgarh and later referred to AIIMS Rae Bareli after their condition deteriorated.

SHO, Balendu Gautam said efforts are underway to trace the tractor-trolley driver, who fled the scene after the accident.

Additional Superintendent of Police Alok Singh said legal formalities are being carried out.