STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU/AMRITSAR: Six Baratis from Jammu, including a child and two women, all members of a marriage party, died while at least 16 others were injured when the bus they were travelling in lost control and overturned in a field in Tarn Taran late Sunday night. All the bodies were brought to Jammu on Monday evening.
The accident took place near Miyanpur village in Tarn Taran district and is being attributed to driver of the bus who was drunk. He also sustained injuries and has been arrested by the Tarn Taran police.
The marriage party that had come from Gandhi Nagar in Jammu to Patti, was on way back home after the wedding. The deceased have been identified as Karam Singh (50), Tanisha (10); Vicky (34) and Preeto (50), all residents of Gandhi Nagar, Jammu, and Jaswant Singh (50), a resident of Boparai village and Mansur Masih (22), the conductor of the ill-fated bus.
Giving details, Inspector Rajwinder Kaur, SHO, Sarai Amanat Khan police station, said that the marriage party had come from Gandhi Nagar, Jammu, to Patti. “They were on their way back to Jammu when the accident took place. Most of the members of the party were drunk, so was the driver, who lost control of the bus that turned upside down killing six people,” she said.
She said that the impact of the accident was so severe, that bodies of the deceased had to be retrieved with the help of a JCB. “The injured were all rushed to a nearby hospital. They are out of danger,” she said. The SHO added that the bride and the bridegroom were in a separate car. “The bus was passing through Tarn Taran to drop some of the relatives of the bridegroom, who lived in Chakk Mukand, when the accident took place,” she said.
The SHO maintained that the conductor of the bus died in the accident, while the driver was injured. “He has been arrested for drunken driving and a case under Sections 304-A, 337, 338, 279, 427 IPC has been registered against him at Sarai Amanat Khan police station,” she said.