Photo: Screengrab/DD
GUWAHATI: At least 22 labourers from Assam are feared dead after a mini truck fell into a deep gorge in Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjaw district near the Indo‑China border. The accident occurred on Monday night along the high‑altitude Hayuliang–Chaglagam road.The incident came to light only on Thursday night when a lone survivor, severely injured, managed to climb out of the gorge and walk about 4 km to reach a Border Roads Organisation camp. He alerted officials to the mishap.Anjaw district deputy commissioner Millo Kojin “The NDRF team from Assam is reaching the site with specialised equipment tonight, and search and rescue operations are expected to begin tomorrow. The injured survivor has been shifted to Assam Medical College and Hospital in Dibrugarh,” he said.He added that details of 18 individuals are known so far and efforts are on to collect the information of the other four.Defence PRO Lt Col M Rawat said that Indian Army launches search and rescue operation in higher reaches of Arunachal Pradesh.He said that after four hours of intensive search and rope descent on Thursday, 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 and 18 bodies have been spotted so far. “The accident site, approximately 12 km short of Chaglagam, lies in difficult terrain with limited connectivity and had not been reported by any local agency, contractor or civil representative until the survivor’s arrival,” the PRO said.
