Aizawl/Guwahati, July 21 (IANS) At least 27 people were killed and 21 others injured in road accidents in three northeastern states - Mizoram, Assam and Manipur, officials said Saturday.
At least 18 people were killed and 17 others injured when an overloaded bus carrying them fell into a gorge in Mizoram early Saturday. The accident occurred when the bus crashed into the debris of a landslide near Keifang village, about 80 km from Aizawl city, and then toppled off the road.
"Seventeen people died on the spot and one injured person succumbed to injuries while being taken to a hospital. All the injured people have been shifted to the Aizawl Civil Hospital for treatment. The condition of seven of them is critical," a Mizoram official told reporters.
The bodies of the victims have been recovered.
The ill-fated bus left Aizawl late Friday night for Champai in mountainous eastern Mizoram and fell into a 100-metre-deep gorge in a narrow valley after ramming into the debris. The landslides was caused following incessant rains during the past few days.
In Assam, five people were killed and two injured when a speeding car skidded off the road and fell into a ditch on national highway (NH)-52 in Sonitpur district, bordering Bhutan Saturday.
The small car, travelling from Guwahati to Lakhimpur in northern Assam, skidded off the road and fell into a roadside ditch following a technical snag at Barangabari under Gohpur police station, 300 km northeast of Assam's main city of Guwahati, a police official said here.
In another incident, at least four people, including two women, were killed and two others sustained injuries when a car in which they were travelling slid down a steep hill slope between Khongsang and Irang along NH-37 in Tamenglong district in western Manipur late Friday evening.
Police said the injured were taken to a government hospital.
