A pall of gloom descended on Haryana’s Hansi district after six people were burnt alive after their car caught fire following a collision with an electric pole near the Panipat-Khatima national highway, around 25 km from Uttar Pradesh’s Muzaffarnagar district on Monday, police said

The deceased have been identified as Ankit Kumar,21; Sahil Kumar,22; Ankit Singh, 22; and Rahul Kumar, 23, belonged to Rakhigarhi village. Ankit Kumar and Rahul were real brothers. While Aman, 20, and Ajay,21, were residents of Moth Rangran village.

The news of the tragedy left the families and villagers in shock, particularly as the families were unaware that the youths had left for the trip. According to villagers they left their homes around midnight shortly after Diwali celebrations for Haridwar to take a holy dip in the Ganga on the occasion of Somvati Amavasya.

Ankit Kumar, Aman and Ajay were students, while the other three were self-employed. According to the villagers Sahil was driving the Hyundai Aura when the accident occurred.

The car reportedly caught fire soon after crashing into the electricity pole, leaving the occupants with no chance to escape and all burnt alive.

“On receiving information, police personnel rushed to the spot along with fire brigade teams and launched a rescue operation,” superintendent of police (Rural) Akshay Sanjay told reporters.

“The occupants were taken to the district hospital, where doctors declared them dead,” he added.

According to the superintendent of police (SSP), the car was suspected to have been travelling at high speed when the driver lost control, causing it to overturn after hitting a divider and an electric pole before catching fire.