Mumbai, Nov 5 (IANS): Six persons of a single family were killed and three others injured when a taxi they were travelling in turned turtle on the Eastern Freeway towards south Mumbai here on Saturday morning, officials said.

The accident occurred around 9 a.m. and severely hit the morning peak hour traffic towards the central business districts and other parts of the city.

According to Dongri police, the victims, who were all related, included four women and a minor boy who had come from Surat for a pilgrimage to Mumbai.

According to eye-witnesses account gathered by the police the vehicle suddenly lost control on the Freeway as it approached the Wadi Bunder area and rammed into a pole before overturning and crushing the occupants.

The three injured were rushed to Sir J. J. Hospital for treatment. The Dongri Police will record their statements later.

The victims belonging to the Verma family were identified as eight-year-old Rajkumar Verma, Harkesh, 45, Antra, 35, Rajshree, 35, Ragini 20 and Asha, 12, while the injured include Vinay and Ravi.

It is not clear yet who was driving the car.

The Verma family had arrived from Surat, in Gujarat on a pilgrimage to visit various temples in the city and were proceeding to the Mumbadevi Temple in south Mumbai when the accident happened.