In the first incident, three people died following a collision between a motorcycle and a bicycle on Vidhansabha Road in Raipur late Thursday night. According to police, a motorcyclist travelling with a friend crashed into a husband and wife riding a bicycle in the dark near Baroda. The impact threw all three victims several metres onto the road.

The deceased were identified as Shubham Yadav, 28, and cyclists Bhojram Vishwakarma, 58, and his wife Pyari Vishwakarma, 53, residents of Tekari. Shubham was taken to hospital after the crash but was declared dead during treatment, while the couple died at the scene. The rider’s companion remains under medical care. Authorities said traffic was briefly disrupted as bystanders gathered before police arrived and shifted the bodies for post-mortem examination.

In a separate accident in Korba district, two people were killed and five injured when two cars crashed after an unidentified vehicle struck them while overtaking near Jharna turn on the Kendai highway around midnight. The force of the collision sent both cars into a divider, severely damaging the vehicles despite airbags deploying.

Police said the victims who died were travelling in an Alto car carrying four passengers. They were identified as Indrajeet God and Dhanpat Yadav, residents of Sarma village in the Korbi area. Two other occupants of the same car sustained critical injuries, while three passengers in the second vehicle were also hurt, two of them seriously. The injured were rushed to a local health centre and later referred to a hospital in Bilaspur for specialised treatment.

Officials stated that the unidentified vehicle involved in the Korba crash fled the scene, and efforts are under way to trace it. Police teams in both districts have launched investigations and are examining witness accounts and available evidence to determine the exact sequence of events.

Authorities reiterated the need for caution on highways and poorly lit roads, noting that overspeeding and risky overtaking remain major contributors to fatal accidents in the region.