Mangled remains of the bus at Barwa Bazar on Wednesday; (above) one of the injured being taken to PMCH, Dhanbad. Pictures by Gautam Dey

Dhanbad, June 9: The sound of wedding bells drowned in wails of despair for a family from Bengal when 20 members, including the father and brother of the groom, were killed in a bus accident on GT Road, 25km from Dhanbad district headquarters, early this morning.

More than 12 have sustained injuries. The condition of five is serious.

According to police and eyewitnesses, the speeding bus carrying some 40 people from Mundro village — the wedding venue in Govindpur block — to Salanpur in Bengal’s Burdwan district rammed into a tree at Barwa Bazar, 10km from Mundro, around 6.15am. The impact of the collision was so severe that the front of the vehicle was reduced to a mangled heap of metal.

Sixteen people died on the spot. Father of the groom, Jagdish Ray — a retired Eastern Coalfields employee and resident of Shyamdih village in Salanpur near Asansol — and elder brother Hara Roy were among them. Four others succumbed to their injuries at Patliputra Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) in Seraidhela. The bride and groom were travelling in an SUV behind the bus and escaped unhurt.

Some of the injured have been rushed to PMCH while the others are being treated at BCCL’s Central Hospital. Dhanbad deputy commissioner Ajay Kumar Singh, ADM (law and order) Balmiki Prasad, deputy development commissioner Ravindra Prasad, sub-divisional officer George Kumar and SP Suman Gupta supervised the rescue operation. Nirsa MLA Arup Chatterjee met some of the victims later in the day.

Officer in charge of Govindpur police station Vinod Kumar claimed the driver, Bhuvan Ray, was speeding and lost control of the vehicle, which skidded off the road and crashed into a Pipal tree on its left. It is yet to be ascertained whether Ray is still alive. His driving licence was found inside the bus.

Sources said the driver was tired and might have dozed off. “He reached Mundro from Burdwan at 9pm and started the return journey as early as 5.30am. He perhaps did not get enough sleep,” one of them claimed.

Deputy commissioner Singh said since all the victims were residents of Bengal, the district administration could not announce compensation. “Arrangements have, however, been made for free treatment of the injured and transportation of bodies to Shyamdih.”