The incident took place at Madanpur village under Ratanpur police station limits when the victims were returning to Bhilai, city superintendent of police Lakhan Patle said.
The victims had gone to Mainpat in Surguja district to celebrate the new year. On the way back, their SUV hit a truck coming from opposite direction on Ratanpur-Bilaspur road.
Those killed were identified as Dilip Tandi (27), Shiv Yadav (27) and Lucky alias Sanjay Sharma (25).