A road near one of India’s best-known wildlife reserves became the scene of a disaster on Friday, when a crowded minibus and a container truck met head-on in the northeastern state of Assam. Officials put the death toll at 23 or more, with around 20 others hurt, and many of the victims were college students.
The crash happened at Rangajan, beside a tea garden in the Kohora area at the edge of Kaziranga National Park, the home of much of the world’s remaining one-horned rhinos. The minibus was heading from Bokakhat toward Nagaon, while the truck was bound for Upper Assam. The impact flattened the front of the passenger vehicle, and police and villagers worked to pull trapped people out of the twisted metal.
Speed is the main suspicion. The stretch through the park carries strict limits, partly so that drivers do not hit animals crossing between forest and river. Atul Bora, a state minister who represents the area and went straight to the site, said the minibus had been going far too fast and the man at the wheel seemed to have lost his grip on the vehicle. Local media reported that the vehicle had collected a string of traffic fines in the past, with one penalty for speeding still unpaid.
Nine ambulances carried the injured first to a hospital in Kohora. The most serious cases were moved on to the medical college hospital in Jorhat, and officials warned that the toll could still rise. The dead included two women. By evening, authorities were still working to identify the victims, some of whom came from around Nagaon.
Himanta Biswa Sarma, who heads the state government, voiced his grief and told the families who lost someone that the whole state was with them. His government, he said, was concentrating first on getting the injured the best care possible.
