NEW DELHI: A speeding truck ploughed into a rickshaw in eastern India killing at least 12 passengers, police said Monday.

The dead were returning from a Hindu festival late Sunday when the truck rammed the vehicle on a highway in Jharkhand state´s Gumla district, some 100 kilometres (62 miles) from state capital Ranchi.

A hunt is on for the truck driver who sped away from the accident, Gumla police chief Anshuman Kumar told AFP.

He said four other passengers were in the hospital with serious injuries.

India has some of the world´s deadliest roads. More than 150,000 people are killed each year with most accidents blamed on poor roads, badly maintained vehicles and reckless driving.

Last December at least 32 people were killed after their bus swerved off a bridge and plunged into a river in the western Indian state of Rajasthan.