Moga (Punjab), May 7 - Eighteen members of two families were killed when the mini truck they were travelling in collided head-on with a truck near here, police said today.

The victims - 12 belonging to Daulatpur Neema village and six to Daulatpur Ucha village, both located in the district, were returning from a religious function at Nanaksar.

The accident took place late last night near a railway crossing, 10 kms from here. The truck driver managed to escape from the spot, police said.

The bodies of the victims have been brought to the Civil Hospital here for post mortem. The deceased included eight men, five women and five children, police said, adding the children were in the age group of seven to nine years.

The Daulatpura Neewan family was headed by Pal Singh, his wife Inderjeet Kaur and two sons Surjeet Singh and Ranjeet Singh, all of whom were victims of the tragedy.

The Daulatpura Ucha family was headed by Roop Singh, his wife Balwinder Kaur, son Satnam Singh, two daughters Harmanpreet Kaur and Navdeep Kaur and their relative Jaswant Singh. PTI