All eight members of a wedding party were killed after the Maruti Ertiga (AS12V9333) they were travelling in hit a stationary truck (AS12B 2022) in Orang near Gelabil on National Highway-15 in Udalguri around 3am on Wednesday.

Police with the help of locals retrieved the bodies. A crane was used to extricate the mangled remains of the car.

Orang police said the car was travelling from Baihata Charali in Kamrup (rural) to Tezpur. The eight accident victims were returning from a wedding ceremony.

“They started early from the bride’s place in Baihata Charali. Heavy fog is suspected to be the cause of the accident,” Orang police station in-charge Dipak Das said. “We are waiting for the post-mortem reports to ascertain if the dead were under the influence of alcohol,” he added.

The victims have been identified as Diganta Saikia, Pinku Saikia, Ranjit Deka, Partha Kuri, Narayan Das, Tinku Bora, Kand Deb and Dipak Mech.

The police are yet to ascertain who was driving the car.

As per reports, some of the victims were residents of Tezpur and the rest were from Thelamara in Sonitpur district.

Chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal has offered condolences to the bereaved families.

According to the Motor Vehicles (Amendment) Act, 2019, the vehicle owner or the insurer will get Rs 5 lakh as compensation in case of death.