At least 24 killed as bus and container truck collide in Assam near Kaziranga
A bus carrying about 30 people collided with a container truck on a highway beside Kaziranga National Park in north-east India on Friday.
At least 24 people were killed and 11 injured when a passenger bus and a container truck collided on a highway in India's north-eastern state of Assam on Friday, Al Jazeera and the BBC reported, citing police and officials.
Earlier reports from the South China Morning Post and The Straits Times, the latter carrying a Reuters story, put the toll at 23. Golaghat district police superintendent Swapnaneel Deka told Reuters there were 23 confirmed deaths and seven people had been referred to hospital. "It is likely the death toll will increase," he said.
The crash happened in Golaghat district near Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its one-horned rhinoceroses, about 225km east of the state capital, Dispur, according to Al Jazeera. The SCMP described it as a head-on collision on a road bordering the park. That stretch is a designated animal corridor with strict speed limits.
Deka said the bus was travelling to a neighbouring district with about 30 people on board. The BBC reported it had left Bokakhat, the gateway town to Kaziranga, and was headed for Nagaon, an agricultural and commercial centre about 120km west by road.
The bus driver and several children were among the dead, officials told Al Jazeera. The SCMP reported that three children were killed. Assam's rural development minister, Atul Bora, told the BBC several of those who died were college students, though they have not been publicly identified. The Straits Times reported the truck driver was injured. The injured were admitted to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital, according to the BBC.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said on X he was "deeply distressed by the tragic accident" and that "the scale of this loss has shaken all of us". The Straits Times reported he had sent a senior minister to the site to oversee relief arrangements. "Our foremost priority now is to make sure the injured receive the best possible medical care without delay," he wrote.
Lurinjyoti Gogoi, who leads a regional opposition party, said road safety had long been a major concern in the state, the BBC reported. The broadcaster said 172,000 people died on Indian roads in 2023, or about 474 a day. Al Jazeera reported that India has one of the highest rates of road deaths in the world, partly because of poorly maintained roads and vehicles.
Bora said witnesses had reported that one of the vehicles may have been speeding at the time. He said "the exact reason will be known after [an investigation]".
Sources: Al Jazeera, Truck and bus crash in India’s Assam state kills at least 24 people; South China Morning Post, India road crash between bus, container truck kills 23; BBC News, At least 24 killed after bus collides with truck in north-east India; The Straits Times, Truck and bus collision in India's Assam kills at least 23 people.
