Post by : Rameen Ariff

A tragic accident in Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjaw district has claimed the lives of at least twenty-one labourers after the truck carrying them plunged into a deep gorge near Metengliang. The incident happened on December 8 but remained unknown for nearly two days due to the remote terrain and absence of mobile network. The matter came to light only after the lone survivor managed to reach a Border Roads Task Force camp and alerted authorities.

According to officials, a team of twenty-two labourers had left Assam’s Tinsukia district on December 7 and were travelling to Chaglagam for construction work. When they failed to reach their destination by December 10, their colleagues reported them missing at the Hayuliang police station, prompting a coordinated search effort.

Anjaw superintendent of police Anurag Dwivedi said the breakthrough came when officials were informed that an injured man had arrived at a nearby camp claiming that the truck carrying him and twenty-one others had crashed off a narrow mountain road. He was given immediate medical aid and later shifted to Assam via Tezu for further treatment.

A preliminary inquiry indicates that the truck skidded off the road between 8 pm and 9 pm on December 8, roughly 11 kilometres from Chaglagam. The vehicle is believed to have slipped off the steep, narrow route and fallen nearly 700 metres into a deep valley. Because the area has no mobile connectivity, the accident remained unreported until the survivor reached help.

Following his statement, teams from the Indian Army, the Border Roads Organisation, local police and the district administration were sent to the site to trace the victims. A National Disaster Response Force unit has also been called in to support the operation. So far, seventeen bodies have been located, and retrieval efforts continue in what officers describe as extremely difficult terrain.

Deputy superintendent of police Habung Sama said the case is being treated as a tragic accident, adding that search and recovery will take time due to the dangerous landscape and depth of the gorge. Officials also confirmed that eighteen of the twenty-two labourers were residents of the Gilapukhuri Tea Estate in Assam’s Tinsukia district.

The Arunachal Pradesh accident has once again highlighted the challenges of travelling through remote mountainous regions during winter, where narrow roads, sharp curves and poor visibility pose constant risks. Authorities are expected to carry out further inquiry into the conditions that led to the fatal crash.

#Global News