Twelve people were killed in two road accidents in Karnataka and Madhya Pradesh on Thursday.

Seven people were killed and two seriously injured as a multi-utility vehicle collided head-on with a lorry in Uttara Kannada district in the early hours of Thursday, police said.

The accident occurred around 1.30 am near Balagara Cross in the Arabail Ghat section on NH-52 under the limits of Yellapur Police Station, they said.

The injured were shifted to a nearby hospital before being referred to KIMS Hospital in Hubballi, they added.

According to police, the multi-utility vehicle, carrying nine people, including the driver, was proceeding from Dharwad to Dharmasthala and Chikkamagaluru on a leisure trip. Preliminary information indicated that the driver of the vehicle worked as a part-time delivery executive with a food delivery platform.

Police said the driver, Sanjeev, allegedly drove the vehicle in a rash and negligent manner, veering to the extreme right side of the road before colliding with an oncoming lorry from Ankola.

The impact left the multi-utility vehicle mangled.

Yellapur police visited the spot, conducted an inspection and shifted the bodies for post-mortem.

Based on a complaint lodged by injured Shivaraj, police have registered a case under Sections 281 (rash or negligent driving on a public way), 125(2) (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 106(1) (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Meanwhile, five members of a family, including three women and a child, were killed when the car carrying them rammed into a stationary truck in Madhya Pradesh's Umaria district in the early hours of Thursday, police said.

The accident took place around 3.30 am near Bharula village within the jurisdiction of Civil Lines police station, an official said.

"An Ertiga crashed into a truck parked on the roadside, killing four of its occupants on the spot. A woman was seriously injured and was rushed to a medical facility, where she died," the official said.

The impact left the vehicle completely mangled, police said, adding that the victims were extricated after hours of effort.

The victims, residents of Lilhatola in Anuppur district, were going to Chitrakoot in Satna, the official said.

Additional Superintendent of Police Alok Sharma said the accident took place near Siddhababa Dham Bharaula.

The victims' relatives are currently arriving from Lilhatola, he said.