Six members of a family were killed in a road accident on Dhaka-Barishal Highway in Ujirpur upazila of Barishal yesterday.

They were taking the body of an infant to their hometown by an ambulance. On their way, the ambulance collided head-on with a covered van.

The dead are Arifur Rahman, his sister Shiuli Begum, his mother Kohinoor Begum, his brother Tarek Rahman, his brother-in-law Nazrul Islam, of Jhalokathi Baukathi area; and ambulance driver Alamgir Hossain, of Cumilla.

Arif's cousin Rashidul Hasan Sumon identified the victims.

Ziaul Ahsan, officer-in-charge of Ujirpur Model Police Station, said it was raining heavily in the upazila for which the rescue operation was gaining momentum.

"The ambulance has been completely destroyed. It was being cut to get the bodies out of it," he said.

Meanwhile, the accident caused interruption on regular vehicle movement on Dhaka-Barishal Highway and immense suffering to commuters.

Police seized the covered van but the driver managed to escape the scene.