India, June 26 -- Eight members of a musical band group were killed after a pickup van carrying them collided head-on with a coal-laden truck on the Ramgarh-Bokaro highway (NH-23) near Barlong late on Thursday night, police said.

The victims, returning from a Moharram-related programme, were travelling from Gola towards Ramgarh when the accident occurred on the busy highway, officials said.

Ramgarh superintendent of police Mukesh Kumar Lunayat said a four-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) has been constituted to determine the exact cause of the crash.

"A four-member SIT, including a member from the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI), has been constituted to ascertain the exact reason behind the collision. Prima facie, it ...