KOLKATA, India - A mob ransacked a private hospital in the eastern Indian city of Kolkata on Tuesday after it refused to admit a critically injured child who later died, local ministers said.

A crowd of angry locals went on the rampage in Peerless Hospital, breaking furniture, windows and computers, setting fire to the restaurant and damaging operating theatres, state sports minister Kanti Ganguly told AFP.

In the morning a vehicle with about 40 pilgrims on board collided head-on with a speeding truck 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Kolkata city centre, killing four people outright and injuring nine others.

When the injured were brought to the hospital, including a seven-year-old girl, hospital authorities demanded 50,000 rupees (1,100 dollars) for each patient -- a huge amount for most people in impoverished India.

"They turned violent after the seven-year-old girl who suffered head injuries in the accident died," Ganguly said. "It's inhuman to refuse admission to such critically injured persons."

Police were called to restore order but were subjected to stone-throwing from the angry mob. Officers fired in the air and charged the crowd with truncheons, said police superintendent L.M. Meena.

"No one was injured in the firing," he added.

State health minister Surya Kanta Mishra said the government would look into the incident because all hospitals, including private ones, were obliged to admit people for emergency treatment even if they are unable to pay the fees.

"It's very unfortunate that critically injured people were refused admission as they were not able to pay money to the hospital," Mishra said.

The pilgrims were on their way home after taking a bath in a holy pond in Kuli in the Sunderbans, about 40 kilometres south of Kolkata.

S.K. Roy, head of Peerless Hospital, said the facility had been shut down "for an indefinite period."