Thane, Jul 18 (IANS): At least six persons were killed and three others injured when a speeding container truck rammed into a passenger jeep on the Mumbai-Nashik Highway near Bhiwandi, district officials said here on Tuesday.

The accident took place when the Mumbai-bound container carrier collided with the passenger jeep at the treacherous Khadavali Phata the busy morning hours.

As an impact of the collision, the jeep was flung at least 50 feet away from the highway.

Six of the passengers in the jeep, including two women, were killed on the spot, while the injured persons have been to government hospitals in Kalwa and Bhiwandi.

The victims were identified as Chinmayi Vikas Shinde, 15; Chaitaly Sushant Pimple, 27; Santosh Anant Jadhav, 50; Vasant Dharma Jadhav, 51; Riya Kishore Parsedhi and Prajwal Shankar Firke.

The injured are Krunal Dnyaneshwar Bhamre, 22; Chetna Ganehs Vaze, 29; and Dilip Kumar Vishwakarma, 30.

Locals said that the Khadavli Phata with a curve on one side has become a major accident-prone zone with many big and small incidents reported here.

They have urged remedial measures to prevent such crashes in future.

Police teams from Bhiwandi rushed to the accident site, cleared the traffic jam on the thoroughfare and launched a probe into the incident, the exact causes, whether any of the vehicle drivers were intoxicated.