3 Girls Of A Family Among 26 Killed In Assam Truck-Bus Collision

Three girls from the same family were among the 26 people killed in Friday's collision between a minibus and a container truck near Rongajan in Assam's Kaziranga.

Two of the victims were sisters, while the third was their cousin. They were travelling together to Burapahar to visit their married sister when the accident took place.

According to their father, his two younger daughters, aged 20 and 16, left home with their cousin. His eldest daughter is married and lives in Burapahar.

The family received news of the accident at about 4 pm. By then, two of his daughters and his niece had died.

The accident has also left Kaziranga National Park High School mourning the loss of two of its students. Headmaster Bhuban Khatiwara said one of the girls was studying in Class 9 and the other in Class 8.

Khatiwara said the girls had not attended school that day as they were travelling to meet their relative, approximately 35 to 40 kilometres away. They boarded the Traveller at approximately 2.30 pm.

The collision occurred near Rongajan Bridge, close to the local police station, shortly after they began their journey.

While two of the girls died at the scene of the accident, the third victim, identified as Lakhi, was taken to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital, where she died on Saturday morning.

Speaking about the incident, the headmaster said the deaths had deeply affected students and teachers at the school. He also raised concerns over the driving of Traveller vehicles and alleged reckless behaviour on the roads.

The news has left their classmates struggling to come to terms with the loss. Jayashri Chetry, a classmate of the girls, said people in the village were mourning their deaths. She recalled the girls and spoke about the difficulty of accepting that her friends were no longer around.

Assam Cabinet Minister Atul Bora visited the bereaved family on Saturday and expressed his condolences.

The November 13 accident claimed 26 lives and left several others injured. For the family of the three girls, the impact has been particularly devastating, with two sisters and their cousin losing their lives in the same vehicle while travelling to meet a family member.