Palghar (Maharashtra), Feb 7 (IANS): Five persons were killed here early on Wednesday when their car rammed into a tree at high speed, an official said.

According to the police the accident occurred around 3.30 a.m. when a group of friends was returning home from a wedding party in Vadrai, a coastal fishing village.

As their speeding Volkswagen Vento approached a sharp turn near Patilwadi on the Palghar-Mahim Road, the driver suddenly lost control. The vehicle crashed into the banyan tree, killing all five occupants instantly, Mansingh Patil of Satparti Police Station said.

An eyewitness said he saw the car bang into the massive tree before overturning and falling into a ditch by the deserted road.

A police official proceeding to duties at the Satpati Police Station, saw the vehicle in the ditch and summoned for help.

All the five occupants were shifted to Palghar hospital, where they were declared dead on admission. The bodies were later sent for autopsy.

The deceased were identified as Viraj A. Vetal, 25, who was the owner and was driving the car, his friends Santosh Waman Bhairam, 37, Nilesh Tamore, 25, Dipesh Pagdhare, 24, and Kiran Pagdhare, all living in different villages in Palghar.

A crane was requisitioned to pull out the mangled car.

It is not clear how the driver lost control only a probe will determine whether he was under the influence of alcohol, an investigator said.