One woman is dead. Three people are missing. And somewhere beneath the churning waters of the Lohit River, a vehicle sits submerged — a grim reminder of just how unforgiving these mountain roads can be.
When the Road Ran Out
It was barely dawn on August 13 when a Delhi-registered DI vehicle carrying 10 people — including a driver, women, men, and a child — lost its way on NH-113 along the Walong-Hawai road in Anjaw district, Arunachal Pradesh. The vehicle plunged nearly 300 feet off a road cliff in the Sarti area, crashing down into the Lohit River below. The spot sits close to the India-China border — one of the most remote and difficult-to-reach stretches of Northeast India. By the time rescuers were even notified, it was almost 10 in the morning. Those four hours of silence speak for themselves.
The Race Against the River
Once the District Disaster Management Officer (DDMO) of Anjaw received the alert at around 9:59 AM, a search-and-rescue operation was immediately launched. It wasn’t a small effort. The rescue coordination involved the DDMA Anjaw, district administration, Anjaw Police, the Indian Army, the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), and local residents and volunteers — all working together in terrain that would challenge even the most experienced rescue teams. The Lohit River isn’t known for being forgiving. Fast-moving, deep in gorge territory, and particularly swollen during the monsoon season, it’s the kind of place where every minute counts.
What They Found — and What They Didn’t
Six people were pulled out alive, though with injuries — four men, one woman, and one child. One woman, however, did not survive. Three people remain missing, and the vehicle itself is still submerged in the river. Knowing that the families of those three missing individuals are waiting somewhere — possibly back in Delhi, possibly nearby — makes this more than just a statistic.
Calling for More Help
The SDRF has been stretched thin. Authorities have already requested the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to join the operation, citing limited resources on the ground. That call for backup tells you everything about the scale of what rescuers are dealing with. The gorge is deep, the river is unpredictable, and the clock keeps moving. Search operations continue in and around the Lohit River to locate the missing persons and recover the submerged vehicle.
A Road That Demands Respect
The Walong-Hawai corridor is no ordinary highway. It winds through some of the most dramatic and dangerous terrain in the entire country, barely wide enough in places, with cliffs that drop hundreds of feet without warning — especially during the monsoon. This tragedy is a brutal reminder that roads in the frontier districts of Arunachal Pradesh need urgent attention, and that people traveling these routes — especially from distant cities like Delhi — must understand the terrain they’re entering. Three families are still waiting for answers. That search must go on.
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