NEW DELHI: The death toll in the head-on collision between a passenger vehicle and a container truck near Assam’s Kaziranga National Park has risen to 25, including 14 women and 11 men, Additional District Commissioner of Golaghat Jintu Bora said.
Of the 25 people killed, 23 have been identified, while the identities of two others are yet to be established.
Bora said 19 injured people had been taken to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital, where two subsequently died. One person at the hospital was yet to be identified.
Nine victims from Nagaon district
According to Bora, nine of the deceased were from Nagaon district, one from Karbi Anglong and another from Bihar.
The victim from Bihar was identified as 38-year-old Mohammad Rafiq Ali, son of Sami Ahmed, whose address was listed as Tufanpur in Madhubani district.
The district administration has arranged vehicles to transport the bodies of the deceased to their respective hometowns.
Medical teams called in for post-mortems
Bora said three medical teams, including personnel from Jorhat Medical College and Guwahati Medical College, would conduct post-mortem examinations.
The administration is also coordinating the identification of the remaining victims and arrangements to return the bodies to their families.
Head-on collision near Kaziranga
The accident occurred on Friday in the Rongajaan area of Golaghat district, near Kaziranga National Park, when a passenger vehicle collided head-on with a container truck, according to police.
Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed grief over the deaths and offered condolences to the bereaved families.
In a post on X, Sarma said the scale of the loss had shaken the state and assured the families that they were not alone.
“All of Assam stands with them in this hour of grief,” he said.
The identification of the remaining victims and the post-mortem examinations are among the immediate tasks facing the district administration. - The Statesman/ANN
