A man and two madrasa students were killed and 15 others injured when a bus carrying them plunged into a ditch, as a truck rammed into it on the Dhaka-Sirajganj Highway in Kamarkhand upazila of Sirajganj early today.

The identities of the deceased could not be known immediately, said Sayed Shaheed Alam, officer-in-charge of Bangabandhu Bridge (west) Police Station.

The accident took place as the bus carrying 50 students and teachers of a madrasa from Dhaka's Begunbari area was returning to Dhaka from a religious gathering in Naogaon, said the OC.

The police official said the running bus fell into the ditch beside the highway at Talukderbazar near Bangabandhu Bridge around 4:00am as a Dhaka-bound maize laden truck hit the bus from behind.

The accident left two students dead on the spot and 16 others, including teachers and staff of the madrasa, injured.

The injured were taken to Bongamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib 250 Bed General Hospital in Sirajganj, where doctors declared another person dead.

Police recovered the bodies and sent those to the same hospital morgue for autopsy.

Meanwhile, police seized the truck but its driver managed to flee the scene.