The victims, including a young couple and their two-year-old child, died on the spot, while one woman sustained serious injuries.

The accident took place at around 10.15 a.m. when the family was returning home from Gurudwara Bangla Sahib, after offering prayers. Soon after it crossed the `Gyarah Moorti' end of Sardar Patel Marg, as the car was approaching Dhaula Kuan, a speeding bus coming from the opposite side swerved into its lane. It was apparently attempting to pass a stationary bus, resulting in a head-on collision with the car.

The deceased, all residents of Vikas Puri, have been identified as 55-year-old widow, Har Kaur; her son, Paramjit Singh (24), daughter-in-law Balbir Kaur (21), their two-year-old daughter Simran, and Paramjit's uncle, Sardar Amrit Singh. Amrit Singh's wife, Saroop Kaur, survived and is said to be in a serious condition.

The victims were rushed to the Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, where five of them were declared dead on arrival. The doctors said Saroop Kaur had suffered ``life threatening'' head injuries and multiple hip fractures. She was later shifted to Ganga Ram Hospital by her relatives.

According to Sukhbir, a milkman who was eyewitness to the accident, the car was dragged by the bus for several yards before it halted, turning the bottle green vehicle into a mangled heap of metal and flesh. Sukhbir was travelling on his two-wheeler right behind the ill-fated Maruti when the accident took place.

At the accident spot, little Simran's feeding bottle jutting out of the mangled heap of blood splattered metal was all that remained to tell the story of what had befallen its occupants a few minutes ago.

Meanwhile, passengers of the bus, running under STA permit on route number 770 (Palam Gaon to Ambedkar Stadium), escaped unhurt, while its driver fled the scene. According to the police, the passengers of the bus had already left the scene when they reached the spot. A manhunt has been launched for the bus driver and a case of rash and negligent driving, among others, has been registered against him.

At the RML Hospital, some close relatives of the victims, hearing the news of the tragedy, gathered in the compound. Pritam Kaur, the septuagenarian mother of the surviving victim, pleaded with the doctors to let her have a look at her daughter. ``Sara parivar tabah ho gaya,'' she kept repeating between sobs. Balbir Kaur's younger brother, who reached there in the afternoon, was also given the news bit by bit.

``Your sister has left us all ... even your brother-in-law is no more ... you will not see little Simran either,'' a relative tried in vain to reduce the impact of the tragedy, as he collapsed.

The relatives left the hospital late in the afternoon after being told that the bodies would be transferred to Lady Hardinge Hospital for post mortem.