At least 9 people died and around 20 others were injured when a bus they were travelling in, collided with a truck near Dergaon in Assam, on January 3 early morning.
The bus, carrying a picnic party of around 45 was heading towards Tinsukia when it collided with a truck coming from the opposite direction on the under-construction national highway near Balijan, Dergaon in Golaghat district of Assam.
Reports said that the highway construction authority created a diversion on the 4-lane road, leading to the truck entering the “wrong lane”. “Foggy conditions made matters worse,” a local resident said.
Speaking to the media, the district administration confirmed 9 deaths and said that many others are critical and are undergoing treatment at Jorhat Medical College.
Around 45 persons were travelling in the bus from Kamarbandha to Tinsukia’s Tilinga Temple and Dibrugarh’s Bogibeel for a New Year picnic.
“We are investigating the cause of the accident. We recently had a meeting with road safety experts from Delhi and NHDCL assured us that proper signages and other rectification work on the highway will be completed within a month. It is unfortunate that this happened today. But we can only tell more on how the accident happened after police and the authorities complete the investigation,” said Golaghat deputy commissioner P Uday Praveen.
He added that a number of injured are undergoing treatment.
