The bus that was involved in the accident in Tinsukia on Friday. Picture by Eastern Projections

Dibrugarh, May 16: A joyous occasion turned tragic when six members of a groom’s party were electrocuted to death and four others suffered serious burns in an accident at Kowaripathar village in Tinsukia district this afternoon.

The marriage party was returning from Khatkhati near Moran in Sivasagar district after the marriage of 36-year-old Uttam Baruah last night.

As the bus was nearing Kowaripathar, the steel furniture loaded on the top of the vehicle came in contact with an 11KVA high-tension wire and the electrocuted bus immediately caught fire.

“There were around 35 people in the bus. When the bus caught fire, many of them jumped out of the vehicle and managed to save their lives. However, six of them died on the spot while four others were injured. The injured have been shifted to the Tinsukia civil hospital”, said a police officer at the Bordubi police station.

The dead are 34-year-old Shefali Baruah and Gita Baruah, 28, both sisters of the groom, Gita’s six-year-old daughter Parisma, Rita Baruah, Haripada Baruah and Sasanka Baruah.

The injured persons are Projit Baruah, Kalpana Baruah, Surajit Baruah and Bimal Baruah.

“There was a loud crackling sound and nobody knew what had happened. Then we saw that the bus was on fire. Everybody raised a hue and cry and the men jumped out of the bus. The driver was among the first to jump out, after the bus stopped,” Surajit Baruah, one of the injured, told the media at the hospital.

The bus, bearing registration number AS-20-0778, was half burnt after the incident and the fire was controlled with the help of the villagers. The police and fire tenders arrived after the fire was put out.

“It is a horrifying incident. It was my marriage and see my luck, I have lost two of my sisters, I am the most unfortunate person in this world,” Uttam said, before breaking down. Moreover, 19-year old Rita’s marriage was to be held on June 10 to a youth in Chabua.

The police are looking for the driver and said the matter will be investigated.

“We will make a detailed inquiry into the case. We have called people from the Assam State Electricity Board and the matter is being discussed,” a senior Tinsukia police official said.