As many as 21 people have died after a truck with construction workers from Assam slipped into a gorge in Arunachal Pradesh. Reportedly, the mishap occurred on Monday, and the incident came to light on Wednesday, after one of the travellers who miraculously escaped with injuries alerted the Border Roads Task Force.
According to Arunachal police, the truck was carrying construction workers from Assam’s Tinsukia district for Chaglagam in Arunachal Pradesh. The workers were engaged by a local contractor in the region for construction work. The workers started from Chaglagam on December 7, and their associates alerted Hayuliang police station after they failed to turn up even on December 10.
Nang Chingni Choupoo, DDMO (in-charge) for Anjaw District, Arunachal Pradesh, told ANI, "The incident occurred in Chaglagam Circle in Anjaw district of Arunachal Pradesh, located at the India-China border. It happened on the night of December 8. We received the report on the night of December 10. Even the locals were not aware that an incident had occurred there. It is steep and narrow there. The cause of the incident is yet to be ascertained."
Choupoo said, according to the survivor, there were 22 workers on the truck. "A search and rescue operation is underway there by the Army, ITBP and district administration. NDRF has been requisitioned," the officer said.
A police team from Assam have started to Arunachal Pradesh to assist the rescue operations. The lone survivor was identified as Budheswor Deep and he called up his relatives on Wednesday morning.
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Defence PRO Lt Col Mahender Rawat said the Army's Spear Corps, on the early morning of Thursday, mobilised multiple search and rescue columns, medical teams, GREF representatives, local police, NDRF personnel and the ADC of Hayuliang.
"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," he added.
According to PTI, apart from Deep, 18 more labourers, including the dead and the missing, have been identified. They are Rahul Kumar, Somir Deep, Arjun Kumar, Pankaj Manki, Ajay Manki, Bijay Kumar, Abhoy Bhumij, Rohit Manki, Birendra Kumar, Agor Tanti, Dhiren Chatriya, Rojoni Nag, Deep Gowala, Ramsebak Suna, Sonaton Nag, Sanjay Kumar, Karan Kumar and Junash Munda.