Lucknow, Nov 20 (IANS): Fourteen people, including six children, were killed when the SUV they were travelling in crashed into a stationary truck near Manikpur in Uttar Pradesh.

All the deceased were members of a marriage party and there were no survivors, said police.

The incident took place on the Prayagraj-Lucknow highway around midnight Thursday.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath expressed grief over the accident and has directed officials to provide all help to the families of the victims.

The police that reached the spot had to use gas cutters to retrieve the bodies from the vehicle that had turned into a mangled heap of iron. It took more than three hours to get the bodies out.

Additional Superintendent of Police Anurag Arya who reached the site of the accident, said that all 14 bodies had been sent for post mortem.

All the deceased were residents of Kunda in Pratapgarh and were returning after attending a marriage in Nawabganj area.

Sources said that the driver of the SUV probably fell asleep which led to the accident.