An ambulance arrives with the injured at ANMCH in Gaya on Monday. Picture by Suman

Gaya, June 25: Seven members of a marriage party died this morning after the driver of the SUV they were travelling in lost control of the vehicle that went on to hit a tree.

The driver also died on the spot.

The seven members of the baraat (marriage procession party) died on way to Anugrah Narayan Medical College and Hospital (ANMCH), around 25km away from the accident site. Two more people were injured in the accident.

Sources said all of them were returning from Mubarakpur in Paraia block to Belharia in Belaganj block of Gaya district after attending the wedding of a relative. The sources added that the driver lost control of the SUV while negotiating a turn. The vehicle hit a tree between Ichchhapur and Raniganj under Panchanpur police outpost on Gaya-Panchanpur-Daudnagar road around 9am.

The driver, Shivranjan Sharma, was a resident of Singhaul village under Belaganj police station. Members in the marriage party who were following the SUV in two to three vehicles took the injured to ANMCH. But seven of them died on way to the hospital.

Among the persons who died included a Border Security Force (BSF) jawan, Praveen Bhardwaj, and Jairam Yadav. The jawan used to live in the Bazaar Verma area under Goh block in Aurangabad district. Police are yet to confirm the names of the rest of the deceased. A post-mortem of the deceased was conducted at the ANMCH, after which the bodies were handed over to their kin.

Chandan Kumar and Ritesh Kumar, two members in the SUV, were taken to the ANMCH in a critical condition. The doctors, however, referred the duo to Patna Medical College and Hospital, around 110km away by road.