Three died after a canter truck allegedly ran over five men sleeping on a footpath in the Shastri Park area of northeast Delhi in the early hours of Monday, police said.

The alleged incident occurred at the Tarbuz market near Shastri Park metro station around 4:30 am, the police said and added the victims were homeless and sleeping on the footpath.

An officer said the medium goods vehicle was approaching the Iron Bridge from Seelampur when it climbed the central verge and ran over the five men sleeping on the footpath.

The trucker abandoned his vehicle and fled the spot after the accident. The victims were taken to Jag Pravesh Chandra Hospital where three were declared dead. They are yet to be identified, the officer said.