Palghar, Mar 5 (IANS): In a series of shocking developments, a drunken driver mowed two minor girls, injured one man seriously, destroyed a shop and as he attempted to escape, his truck caught fire and was gutted, officials said here on Saturday.

The mayhem occurred near Morchundi village in Jawhar, when the inebriated Sharad Nisarge was speeding his truck and ran over two minor girls playing near the road.

Panicking, he stopped and attempted to reverse his truck and banged into a shop behind and injured a man standing there.

Somehow he reversed the truck and attempted to flee the accident site when his truck suddenly caught fire, forcing him to jump out, said a police official.

The local villagers who had rushed to the scene grabbed Nisarge and thrashed him before dragging him to the local Mokhada Police Station.

The two minor girls, bleeding profusely with multiple injuries, were rushed to a nearby government hospital, but pronounced dead on admission, while the injured man is undergoing treatment.

They are identified as Archi N. Sonar, 5, and Payal B. Vargade, 9, who were returning home from school, when the tragedy struck.

Mokhada Police Station head Sanjay Brahmane said that as per preliminary investigations, the accused was attempting to flee the spot after the accident but banged into a tree.

The impact resulted in a short circuit and the truck caught fire and was gutted in minutes though Nisarge managed to jump out.

"We have arrested the accused under IPC Section 304, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, and sections of Motor Vehicles Act. He has been sent for a medical examination to ascertain the alcohol levels. We shall produce him before the Jawhar Court tomorrow," Brahmane told mediapersons.

Meanwhile angry locals including the irate relatives of the two deceased girls, staged a traffic blockade preventing vehicular movement towards Nashik-Thane in either directions, demanding stringent punishment for the truck driver Nisarge.