GUWAHATI: At least nine persons were killed and 12 others injured, 10 of them seriously, in a road accident near Thawra bridge on the national highway at Demow in Sivasagar district of eastern Assam on Monday. Two of the deceased were killed on the spot.
An official statement issued from the Sivasagar district administration stated that nine people were killed and another 12 injured when a passenger carrying bus (AS-05-C-5999) travelling towards Dibrugarh collided head on with a Traveller (AS-23-BC-6878) that was coming from Tinsukia to Jorhat. The traveler was completely damaged in the collision and thrown into a roadside pond. Both the vehicles were in travelling in high speed despite incessant rain, police said.
Though the locals immediately rushed the injured to nearby Demow Model Hospital, seven of them succumbed to their injuries on the way. Ten of the injured have been referred to Assam Medical College Hospital (AMCH) in Dibrugarh. The driver of the bus had vanished from the scene immediately after the accident.
Assam Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal while expressing shock and grief over the tragic road accident directed the district administrations of Sivasagar and Dibrugarh to provide adequate and emergency medical treatment to the injured in the accident.
The Chief Minister has directed the State Transport Commissioner, Virendra Mittal to institute and inquiry into the accident.