Four members of a family were killed when the car they were travelling by rammed a parked lorry near Chikkahole checkpost in Chamarajanagar taluk early on Monday morning.

The victims have been identified as Siddaraju (62), his son-in-law Sachchidanand (50), grandsons Sreyas (20) and Poorvik (8).

Another relative of theirs, Suresh, was seriously injured and is undergoing treatment, the police said.

According to the police, the accident occurred when the family was returning from Madurai in Tamil Nadu. The police said the car was speeding and the driver lost control over it.

The automobile then rammed a lorry parked by the roadside. Three of them died on the spot while Poorvik died in a hospital in Mysuru after he did not respond to the treatment, the police added.

The police said the car had been completely damaged due to the impact of the collision. An earthmover had to be used to separate the vehicles and retrieve the bodies, the police added.

Siddaraju ran the Chikammadevi Marriage Hall in T Narasipur town, Mysuru district, while Sachchidanand was a first-grade assistant at the Life Insurance Corporation office in Mysuru. More members of the family are said to have been in another car ahead of Siddaraju’s.

A case has been registered with the Ramasamudra police.