Post-mortems begin for 26 victims in Golaghat road crash near Kaziranga

Guwahati, Nov 14 (NEInsider) – A head-on collision on National Highway 715 near Rangajan, close to the Hathikuli Tea Estate in the Kohora range of Kaziranga National Park, left 26 people dead on Friday. The crash involved a minibus travelling from Bokakhat to Nagaon and a container truck moving from Tezpur to Dibrugarh. Post-mortem examinations of the deceased are being carried out at the Golaghat District Civil Hospital morgue on Saturday.

Post-mortem examinations

Cabinet Minister Atul Bora visited the morgue on Saturday to observe the ongoing post-mortem work, according to Northeast Now. The bodies of those whose examinations have been completed have already been handed to their families for last rites. Minister Ranoj Pegu, deputed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to oversee the site and hospitals, said that post-mortems for all 26 victims would be completed on Saturday.

Official response

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma is scheduled to meet the families of the deceased and the injured patients in Golaghat district on Saturday to assess the situation. The state government has deployed a team of five specialist doctors to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital (JMCH) to assist with the treatment of injured passengers. A one-and-a-half-year-old child injured in the crash is receiving care at Bokakhat Sub-Divisional Civil Hospital, while the truck driver remains under treatment, though his identity has not been officially confirmed.

Victims and ongoing treatment

Preliminary information indicates the minibus, designed for 26 passengers, was carrying more than 40 people and may have crossed into the wrong lane before colliding head-on with the truck. The vehicle had reportedly received several overspeeding fines earlier, and a camera inside the truck is said to have recorded the impact.

Identified victims include Jyoti Majhi and Darpana Majhi of Amguri, Purnima Goala and her 12-year-old son Anurag, 20-year-old Lakhimi Majhi and Sujata Tanti of Kaziranga, Jayanti Rabidas of Bihora Tea Estate, Rashid Ali of Kuthori, Golapi Begum of Rangajan, Mohammad Ali of Dhupguri village in Dhing, Sushil Bhumij of Bokakhat, Faizul Islam, Deepak Gurung of Naharoni in Rangapara, Damini Ghatowal, Baby Karmakar, Dipanjali Rongpharpi – a student of CNB College in Bokakhat, 21-year-old Farhana Yasmin, another Rashid Ali of Harmati in Bagori, and Ranjita Katowar of Nagaon. The driver of the minibus, Abdul Mujid, and his helper Subhash Das were also among those killed.

Authorities continue to identify the remaining victims and contact their families. The injured passengers are being treated at several hospitals, including JMCH, where some remain in critical condition.