TURA, Oct 1: The death toll from the night bus accident at Nongchram bridge involving a Shillong-bound Meghalaya Transport Corporation (MTC) bus on Wednesday night has risen to eight following the recovery of two more bodies from the site on Friday morning.
The bodies of the second MTC driver and a passenger were found inside the water and slush filled bus after it was lifted out of the river bed by high powered cranes during an operation conducted by the state fire and rescue teams of the Meghalaya police with assistance from other agencies and specialised retrieval teams.
“The body of the second driver was retrieved at 9 am while the passenger’s body was found at 11:45 am,” informed East Garo Hills Superintendent of Police Bruno A Sangma.
The second driver has been identified as Dapborlang Wankhar (40) from Mawlyngad, Mawryngkneng in East Khasi Hills. The passenger has been identified as Larsen M Marak (25) of Chidekgre in Williamnagar, East Garo Hills.
MTC Chairman and Rongjeng MLA, Jim M. Sangma, while expressing his condolence to the families of the deceased, announced an ex gratia of Rs 1 lakh to the kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each as medical expenses for those injured in the accident.
The MTC has also decided to conduct an internal inquiry to find out the exact cause of the accident.
