Dibrugarh/Jorhat, April 24: Bihu's annual heady celebrations are here again. So are accidents.Six members of a Bihu troupe died and 15 were injured when the vehicle they were travelling in collided head on with a dumper on NH 38 in front of Lions Club at Ramnagar under Digboi police station in Tinsukia district around 5am today.

The dead, all from Tinsukia district, have been identified as Ani Gogoi, 17, Dipa Moran, 17, Akash Pratim Sharma, 19, Sanjib Chakhap (driver), 30, Biswajit Chetia, 24, and Hemanta Das, 19. Except Das, who was from Udaipur, Phillobari, the rest hailed from Pengeri.

The officer-in-charge of Digboi police station, Kurshid Ali, said, "The driver of the dumper (AS 01-DD-5071) fled but we have seized the vehicle." He said investigations were on to arrest the culprit.

Police said the front part of the vehicle, a Tata Winger, was completely damaged in the collision. Rescuers used gas cutters to prise open the mangled portion of the vehicle to pull out the dead and the injured. The Winger, which is supposed to carry 9-13 people (excluding the driver), was carrying 20 people.

AMCH principal A.K. Adhikari said 15 people had been admitted to the hospital. One of them, Dibyajyoti Borgohain, who had suffered head injuries, was critical and in the ICU. The rest, who had suffered fractures and other injuries, were in the orth-opaedic and surgery departments. Nirmal Gogoi, one of the troupe members undergoing treatment at the AMCH, said they belonged to Beena Husori troupe and most of them lived at Brahmajan locality in Pengeri, about 45km from Tinsukia town, where they had gone to perform. They were travelling in a Tata Winger they had hired from Pengeri and were headed home via Digboi after the performance in Tinsukia town when tragedy struck.

The distance between Tinsukia and Digboi is 33km while that between Digboi and Penguri is 12km.

"After our husori performance at Sarbananda Singha Stadium in Tinsukia, we were returning home. We were tired and it was raining. We were about 10km from Pengeri, when a dumper coming from the opposite direction collided with our bus,'' he said, adding that the driver was not drunk.

"We were rushed to IOC hospital. They referred us to Tinsukia civil hospital and later the doctors referred us to AMCH," he said.

Laxman Sharma, a resident of Digboi, said, "I was the first to reach the spot and, along with the police, helped to extract those trapped inside the minibus under the dumper. One youth was moaning Anjali, mur (my) Anjali. Where are you? Are you ok? I do not know whom he was referring to as her name does not figure among the names of the dead or injured," he said, adding that the heart-rending screams would ring in his ears for life. Sharma said at least one or two elderly persons should have accompanied the troupe. "The driver was the only 30-year-old. The rest were between 17 and 25."

Bihu troupes and artistes meeting with accidents while travelling to and from function venues at night or dawn is not new in Assam (see chart ), prompting calls for some dos and don'ts to prevent mishaps.

Last year, 11 musicians had died in a road accident at Dhupdhara in Goalpara district while travelling after a late night Bihu performance.

Last year, 309 people had died in road mishaps in Assam while in 2013, 286 people died.

Kailash Sarma, president of Guwahati Bihu Sanmilani, Latasil, while condoling the deaths, said such mishaps could be prevented to a large extent. "It's very sad and unfortunate to see talented and popular performers die in their prime. We lost Bhaya Mama artistes and budding singer Suman Mahanta to mishaps. I have been appealing to Bihu function organisers personally and through TV talk shows to adopt measures to ensure safety of outstation artistes (see chart ). For local artistes it is all right to travel at night or at dawn but not for outstation performers," he said.

At Pengeri, business and educational establishments remained closed. People came out on the streets to pay tribute to the victims, said a teacher, Kishore Sharma, whose two students, Ani and Akash, were among the dead.

6 die, 15 injured as dumper hits troupe vehicle

PAST TRAGEDIES

• 1999: Six members of a popular comedy group, Bhaya Mama, die at Tetelia in Kamrup district when they were returning after performing at a Bihu function 
• 2002: Singer Zongki Borthakur, sister of Zubeen Garg, dies in a car accident at Balipara in central Assam’s Sonitpur district on her way to perform at a Bihu function 
• 2009: 45 members of a Bihu troupe injured when the mini-truck they were travelling in meets with an accident at Barekuri Borgaon in Upper Assam’s Tinsukia district
• 2014: 11 members of a Bihu troupe die when the Winger they were travelling in collide with a truck at Dhupdhora on NH 37 in lower Assam’s Goalpara district. Promising singer Suman Mahanta among dead

PREVENTIVE MEASURES

• Outstation artistes should not be allowed to perform beyond midnight so that they can leave early next morning to their next venue instead of travelling at night
• They should be provided proper accommodation for the night by organisers to prevent them from travelling at night
• Drivers ferrying outstation artistes should also be given proper food and accommodation so that they are not stressed
• Local administration should keep a close watch on Bihu function timings