LUCKNOW, Dec. 23 -- Four people were killed after their car rammed into a dumper from behind on the Haridwar Road in Bijnor district late Sunday night, police said on Monday. According to police, the accident took place around 11.30 pm near Jalpur village in the Nangal police station area when a speeding car, returning from a religious congregation (jalsa), crashed into a dumper moving ahead on the highway. The impact was so severe that the car was badly mangled, shrinking from nearly 14 feet to about 10 feet in length. Locals rushed to the spot after hearing screams and alerted the police. The occupants were found trapped inside the wreckage. Police used cutting equipment to break open the doors and retrieve the bodies. Officials said the airbags in the car did not deploy, and all four victims suffered fatal head and facial injuries. "The deceased were identified as Qari Iqbal (75), a known Islamic scholar from Sarai Alam; Ashfaq (65); and two friends, Ehtesham (25) and Salauddin (26), all residents of the same village," said superintendent of police, Bijnor KG Singh. According to villagers, Qari Iqbal had attended a religious event at a madrasa in Rahatpur Khurd village. After the programme ended, the three men offered to drop him home. Police said the car was barely six kilometres from the village when it collided with the dumper near Jalpur. The dumper driver fled the spot following the accident. Station house officer Satyendra Malik said the bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination, and efforts are on to trace the dumper and its driver. Further investigation is underway....