Assam road accident kills 30, including 13 children

Zee Media Bureau

Guwahati: In a massive accident, a cargo truck rammed into two minivans carrying brick kiln workers in Barpeta district, 150 kilometres from Assam`s capital. According to reports, 30 people, including 13 children and five women, have died and another eight people have been injured in the mishap. Police said the 10-wheeler truck slammed into the oncoming minivans coming from Bhubri district near Dahla para area on National Highway- 38, under the Sarbhog police station, at about 4.30 AM today. The two buses were going one behind the other when the truck rammed into the first bus and moved it backwards to hit the second one at Doholapara, under Sorbhog Police Station, police said. The minivans overturned under the impact of the collision. The collision killed 28 people, including the drivers of the minivans, on the spot and injured 10 others. The minivans had been carrying workers, some with their children, to a local brick kiln. The truck was travelling to the neighbouring state of West Bengal. Two of the critically wounded passengers admitted at Barpeta Medical College Hospital succumbed to their injuries, police said. The driver of the truck, who was allegedly in an inebriated state, has been arrested. Local TV broadcasts showed a huge crowd surrounding bodies covered in white sheets and lined up on green grass. Several families were wiped out in the accident as the victims were travelling from Kholkholi and nearby villages in Dhubri district in the two minivans to work for long periods in two brick kilns at Rangia in Kamrup district, they said. The two minivans were packed with the people, their utensils, foodgrains, personal belongings, etc. The bodies were sent to Barpeta Medical College Hospital for postmortem where the families of the deceased arriving from Dhubri identified some of them. The two injured, who succumbed at the Barpeta hospital, were identified as Ilina Bibi and Mohidul Haque. Among those dead on the spot were identified as the two bus drivers and handiman Kabir Das, Nikhil Das and Mohidur Islam. Some other deceased persons were identified as Asima Bibi, Gelemar Khatun, Amina Bibi, Hamida Bibi, Samina Begam, Hasmat Ali, Nasiruddin Khan, Asar Khan, Moidul Islam, Aftar Ali, Khadir Ahmed, Rezaul Haque, Saidul Rahman, Sahar Ali, Rizaul Ali, Afsar Ali and Ashtar Ali. (With Agency inputs)