Four young men from a single village in Uttar Pradesh's Ballia district were killed after the car they were travelling in lost control and rammed into a palm tree on the Nagra-Belthara Road late on Saturday night, police said on Sunday.

The accident took place at around 9.30 pm on November 14 near Nichuadih, in the Nagra police station area, close to the Daityaraj Baba spot. The car went out of control and hit a palm tree standing by the roadside, leaving all four occupants with very serious injuries.

The deceased have been identified as Golu Thakur, Kunal Paswan, Dhananjay Patel and Abhishek Patel, all residents of Gauvapar village. The four had travelled to Nagra earlier in the day and were returning home when the crash happened.

Local residents rushed the injured men to a nearby health centre, from where they were referred to Mau for advanced treatment. Police said all four died while undergoing treatment. Ballia Police shared details of the accident on its official handle on Sunday, and a senior district police officer said legal proceedings were being initiated after gathering all relevant details.

The bodies have been sent for post-mortem examination. Police said the exact cause of the loss of control was being examined as part of the proceedings.

The deaths of four young men from the same village in a single crash have cast a pall of grief over Gauvapar, with families and neighbours gathering as news of the accident spread on Sunday morning.