PANAJI: Five people, including four tourists from Gujarat, all occupants of a Maruti van, died in a road accident when the vehicle met with a head-on collision against a Tata Mobile carrier jeep along Agacaim by-pass late night on Wednesday. 

According to Agacaim police, five tourists from Gujarat were on their way to Panaji in a hired Maruti van bearing registration number GA-02-U 3576. But when the vehicle crossed the Agacaim bridge, it collided head-on with an oncoming Tata Mobile jeep bearing registration number GA-02-U 6823.
The driver of the Maruti van Zaheer Abbas (35) from Davorlim-Margao, and four tourists Gaurav Jaintilal Tater (23) Sidharth Sohanlal Surna (23) Rounak Narpat Gothi (23) and Rohit Pukhraj Shah (23) all from Surat succumbed to injuries while being shifted to the hospital.
Another occupant of Maruti van, Mr Kunal Jain alias Golcha (23) also from Surat who had sustained grievous injuries was admitted in the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim while the occupant of the jeep, Mr Nanand Kumar Pandit and the driver, Mr Rajkumar Singh from Jharkhand were discharged from hospital on Thursday evening after treatment.
The impact was such that the van got thrown away by the side of the road while the jeep was badly damaged. The Maruti van had to be cut open to remove the profusely bleeding occupants who had sustained multiple fractures.
The bodies of four victims from Surat were handed over to their relatives on Thursday afternoon and were taken to Gujarat for final rites while the body of driver of the van was also handed over to his relatives.
The only alive occupant of Maruti van is in a serious condition in the hospital, informed a police official. ASI, Mr S H Shaikh is investigating the case.