By Sheain Fernandopulle and Kanchana Kumara Ariyadasa, kushan jayawardhane 

A man, his wife and the daughter died and another six injured when the van they were travelling, had collided with a lorry in Madatugama in Kekirawa last afternoon, police said.   

The van which was travelling from Dambulla to Kekirawa had crashed against the lorry which was travelling from Kekirawa to Dambulla.   

Police said nine persons were admitted to the Dambulla Base Hospital where three persons belonging to one family succumbed to their injuries. The driver of the van and two others were among the dead. A Buddhist monk was also among the injured.   The police suspect that the cause for the accident could have been either reckless driving or the driver falling asleep.