Mangaluru : Three members of a family were crushed to death and two others sustained grievous injuries when a tipper collided with their car at Kadapala near Kallugundi in Sullia taluk on the Mani-Mysuru national highway on Wednesday.

The deceased are Lakshmi Narayana, 60, his wife Chinnamma, 52, and son Avinash, 35, all residents of Pambethadi village near Sullia. Avinash’s wife Bhavya and son Abhinandan have sustained grievous injuries.

The family was returning after attending a ritual at Chinnamma’s relative at Virajpet in Kodagu.

When the car reached Kadapala at 5.15pm, a sand-laden tipper going to Madikeri from BC Road, collided with the car.

The lorry was on the wrong side of the road, said police. The impact of the collision was such that the tipper turned turtle and the ill-fated Alto car was reduced to a mangled mass.

While Lakshmi Narayana and Avinash died on the spot, Chinnamma succumbed to injuries on the way to the hospital. Locals took nearly an hour to extricate the bodies from the mangled car.

Villagers said as the road was being asphalted on one side, the tipper was on the wrong side of the road.