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Arunachal accident: How sole survivor alerted authorities two days after mishap
The authorities said that the minitruck, carrying 22 labourers from Tinsukia, fell off a cliff into a 200-metre deep gorge on the night of December 8.
At least 18 people were killed in Arunachal Pradesh after a truck fell into a deep gorge along the Indo-China border in Anjaw district.
Though the accident took place on Hayuliang-Chaglagam Road in the eastern part of the hilly state on Monday, it came to light after a lone survivor managed to reach a neighbouring camp two days later.
The authorities said that the minitruck, carrying 22 labourers from Tinsukia, fell off a cliff into a 200-metre deep gorge on the night of December 8.
How lone survivor miraculously survived?
Preliminary inquiry suggested the accident occurred between 8 pm and 9 pm on Monday, around 11 km from Chaglagam, when the vehicle skidded off the road and fell into a deep gorge.
While 18 people were killed and three others went missing after the tragic fall, the lone survivor escaped, facing head and facial fractures.
Also Read: 18 workers killed after truck plunges into gorge in Arunachal Pradesh
Despite the difficult terrain and limited connectivity, the survivor managed to reach Chipra General Reserve Engineer Force (GREF) camp and alerted authorities about the incident.
Anjaw superintendent of police (SP) Anurag Dwivedi said the survivor’s statement helped police narrow down the crash site, following which a search and rescue was carried out.
"At 1155 hours, after four hours of intensive search and rope descent, the truck was spotted around 200 metres below the road near KM 40 in a re-entrant, inaccessible and not visible from helicopters or the road due to dense tree cover and thick foliage," Defence PRO Lt Col Mahender Rawat said.
How the incident came to light?
Rawat said that the accident had not been reported by any local agency or authority until the survivor arrived at the GREF camp.
After reaching the highway, the survivor sought help from locals, following which a person clicked his picture and shared it on social media, the family said. They said that the police reached out to the survivor and he was then brought to Assam.
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However, Anjaw SP Dwivedi said that when the labourers failed to arrive by December 10, their associates raised an alarm at the Hayuliang police station.
“Hayuliang police then activated local sources to trace the missing workers. During the search, officers were alerted by a Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) camp that an injured man had reached the camp claiming his truck had crashed with 21 others on board. He was given first aid and later shifted to Assam via Tezu for advanced treatment”, he said.
The survivor’s statement helped the police narrow down the crash location, following which teams from the army, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), local police and district administration were mobilised for search and rescue.
(With inputs from Damien Lepcha)
