A coffee machine exploded at a village wedding in Uttar Pradesh on Monday night, killing the vendor and grievously injuring his assistant.

Tragedy struck as the bride’s family was waiting for the groom and other guests to arrive at the venue in Berua Pehla village, Shahjahanpur district.

Sunil Kumar, the coffee machine vendor, was declared dead on arrival at the local community health centre. His employee Sachin Kumar, who was severely injured, has been referred to Bareilly Medical College.

Ankit Dixit, elder brother of bride Anushka Dixit, told reporters that the coffee machine exploded around 9pm as the guests were being served snacks and beverages.

Sachin’s wife, Neelam Devi, alleged that she was not informed about the incident immediately, adding that she suspected a murder plot.

“My husband was a coffee vendor and used to carry the machine for whoever hired him. The small machine could not have caused such a high-intensity explosion," she said.

"Maybe someone rigged it and claimed that it had exploded. The machine was kept atop a table that reached up to his chest, but my husband had multiple head injuries."

Neelam arrived at the office of BJP leader Narendra Kashyap in Shahjahanpur on Tuesday along with her four-year-old son and demanded that those who had hired her husband be booked.

"It was their responsibility to inform me about the incident, but they tried to hide it from me," she alleged.

"Nor did they call the police soon enough. The police called me up later and told me about the incident."

Kashyap said he had assured the bereaved family of justice and asked the police to probe every aspect of the case.

Additional superintendent of police Devendra Kumar said: "We have sent the body for post-mortem and are waiting for the report. We shall record the statement of the injured."