31 dead in Assam bus accident

At least 31 people were killed and many injured as a bus, carrying a wedding party, plunged into a gorge in Hajo town in Kamrup district of Assam around midnight.

The bus, carrying 43 passengers from Guwahati to Tihu in Rangia sub-divison of the district, fell into a gorge when it skidded off a wooden bridge on the Hajo-Guwahati road.

According to witnesses, the driver apparently failed to see bridge that had no railings or signposts.

According to reports, police have recovered 31 bodies, including that of bridegroom Naba Kumar Sarma, his parents and two children.

Six passengers have been rescued and rushed to a hospital in adjoining Nalbari district.

Police, along with the army and local people in the area, are engaged in rescue work and looking out for missing passengers.

The wreckage of the bus has been taken out of the gorge.

Meanwhile, in another accident, 22 people were reported to have suffered serious burn injuries when a passenger bus collided with an oil tanker around Bokakhat town near the Kaziranga National Park.