Five people were killed when two motorcycles, on which they were racing, collided with a van at Melakadayanallur near Tirunelveli in Tamil Nadu, local media reports.

The incident occurred on Monday night when the van driver, on seeing the people racing in the middle of the road, panicked and lost control over the vehicle, reportedly.

He was clueless about from which direction the bikes were coming, as they were weaving through the road at a high speed.

Four were killed on the spot, while another died at the hospital on Monday, they said, adding 12 occupants of the van were also injured.