Guwahati: As many as nine people were killed and one other was injured in a head-on collision between a cement laden truck and an auto-rickshaw returning from Chhath puja celebrations in Assam’s Karimganj district in the wee hours of Thursday.
Police officials said the mishap took place at 5 am at Baithalkhal in Karimganj district when the cement-laden truck coming towards Karimganj from Tripura border side collided head-on with the auto-rickshaw on National Highway 8.
Except one, all the passengers, mostly women and children, travelling in the auto died on the spot, said a police official.
Police have seized the truck but the driver managed to flee.
The bodies have been sent for postmortem while the injured person is being treated at the hospital.
The deceased, all residents of a tea garden in Patharkandi, have been identified as Duja Bai Panika, Shalu Bai Panika, Gaurab Das Panika, Lalan Goswami, Sambhu Das Panika, Puja Gaur, Dev Gaur, Mangali Karmakar, Topu Karmakar and autorickshaw driver Sonuri.
Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma expressed deep grief over the accident and announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 1 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. (UNI)