(Assam)

 

AT LEAST 26 people died, including women and minors, and 20 others were injured in a head-on collision between a minibus and a container truck near Kaziranga National Park in Assam on Friday, officials said. Many of the victims were college students who were returning from their classes. The accident occurred at Rangajan near Hathikuli Tea Estate in Kohora range on National Highway-715 when the passenger vehicle collided with the truck, a senior officer said. “The total number of dead in the accident has increased to 26.

 

Ambulances have taken the people to different hospitals, and we are collecting the data from them,” said Dipam Kumar Barman, a senior doctor at Kohora Model Hospital. At an official function in Biswanath earlier, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that at least 24 people lost their lives and college students were among the dead. Several critically injured people are being treated at Bokakhat Civil Hospital and Jorhat Medical College and Hospital, he added. “Minister Ranoj Pegu will soon visit Kaziranga, and I will also go tomorrow,” Sarma said. Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Atul Bora is already at the accident site and overseeing the relief arrangements. Earlier, an Executive Magistrate of Golaghat district told reporters here that the death toll was rising very fast as many of the injured are critical.