Three persons were killed and as many hurt seriously in the district here when their car rammed into a tree in the wee hours on Sunday, police said.

The accident occurred about 24km away from here at Tatipudi village in Gantyada mandal, Sub-Inspector S Sagar Babu said, adding that the victims were returning to Boddavara in S Kota mandal after attending a wedding function. 

The driver apparently lost control at the wheel and the vehicle hit a tree by the roadside. Police said that three persons on the spot while the injured have been shifted to King George Hospital in Visakhapatnam. The deceased have been identified as A Krishna (30), V Eshwar Sudarshan (32) and Ch Murali (33), the SI said.