Colombo | Sri Lankan state minister Sanath Nishantha and a constable from his security team died in a car crash on a highway on Thursday morning, the police said.

Sri Lanka Police in a statement said the SUV in which the 48-year-old state minister for water supplies was travelling crashed onto the rear end of a freight container truck heading to Colombo at 2 am.

The driver of the vehicle sustained serious injuries and was admitted to the Ragama hospital, News First Lanka quoted the police as saying.

The police have been conducting further investigation into the incident which happened on the Katunayake Expressway near Kandana.

Nishantha, a member of parliament since 2015, represented Puttalam districy