The deceased were identified as Hafez Moinul Islam Sana and Mowlana Abdur Rashid, both teachers of Kusherdanga Madrasa and Rafiqul Islam Gazi,driver of the Mahindra vehicle from Vanderpol village under Koyra upazila, confirmed Shimul Ahmed, Sub-Inspector of Kharnia Highway Police.
According to police and local sources, the accident occurred around 11am near the Fire Service Office at the Golna area of Dumuria. A Mahindra passenger vehicle, en route to Khulna from Chuknagar, collided head-on with a speeding oil tanker heading toward Dumuria.
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Dumuria Police Station, Masud Rana said BSS, the teachers were on their way to the Khulna deputy commissioner's office to attend a programme when the collision took place. All the passengers of the Mahindra, including the driver, were rushed to a local health complex, where doctors pronounced three of them dead on arrival.
The four injured passengers were admitted to Khulna Medical College Hospital (KMCH), where the condition of two is reported to be critical, reports BSS.
Police have seized both vehicles involved in the accident. The bodies of the deceased have been kept at KMCH for autopsy, the OC added.