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10 killed, 19 injured as bus falls into gorge in Mizoram’s Lunglei district
The private bus was being driven by the helper as the driver was asleep when the accident took place early morning.
Ten people were killed and 19 injured when the bus they were travelling in fell into a 500-metre-deep gorge in Mizoram’s Lunglei district on Tuesday morning, police said.
The bus was on its way from state capital Aizawl to its southernmost Siaha district, they added.
The private bus was being driven by the handyman (helper) as the driver was asleep when the accident took place early morning near Pangzawl village, police said.
“It was raining and it seems the bus got stuck on the side of the road which was dug for laying of telephone wires,” said Ankita Chakravarty, the deputy commissioner of the district that shares borders with both Bangladesh and Myanmar. “The bus toppled as the driver tried to get out,” she said.
The injured were admitted to the Serchhip hospital and the Pangzawl primary health centre and the Haahthial community health centre, police said.
Majority of the victims are from Siaha district, police said.
The bodies of the deceased would be sent to their respective villages for funeral after post-mortem examination, a police officer said.
10 killed in house collapse
In Lunglei town,10 people, including five children, were killed when a house collapsed after rains triggered a landslide on June 4 evening. Of the 14 members of the two families staying in the two-storey house, 10 died on the spot while four could be rescued. One of them sustained injuries, officials said.
“The house was on a slope and lose soil perhaps caused the collapse,” said Chakravarty. The state disaster response force, the district disaster response force and the Assam Rifles worked overnight in the rescue operation. “The operation was difficult as it was dark and slushy,” said Chakravarty.
(With agency inputs)
