At least 26 people have been killed and many others injured in a head-on collision between a minibus and a container truck near Kaziranga in Assam’s Golaghat district, officials said.
The accident took place at Rongajan, near Kaziranga, about 274 km northeast of Dispur. The minibus was headed to Nagaon from Golaghat, while the container truck was travelling towards Upper Assam when the two vehicles collided.
The collision took place on a highway that links Golaghat with Nagaon and the wider Upper Assam region, a route used daily by passenger vehicles and goods carriers. The container truck was travelling in the opposite direction when the two vehicles met head-on.
Police said the impact left the minibus severely damaged, trapping several passengers inside the mangled vehicle. The deceased included college students. More than 35 passengers were reported to be inside the minibus at the time of the collision, though the exact number travelling in it was not immediately known.
Death toll may rise, police say
A police official said the death toll was likely to increase given the critical condition of some of the injured. Police have not yet said what caused the collision. Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the deaths in the accident and extended condolences to the families of the victims.
A busy corridor with a grim record
Kaziranga is best known for its national park, which has seen an unprecedented surge in tourists, and the roads through the area carry a steady flow of tourist and local traffic between Guwahati and Upper Assam.
Road safety remains a concern across the region. Five people were killed when a vehicle plunged into a gorge in Arunachal Pradesh’s East Kameng district, and transport safety has been under scrutiny after six coaches of the Kolkata-Sairang Express derailed at Digaru station near Guwahati.
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