12 killed in Assam accident

Guwahati, May 23 (IANS) At least 12 people were killed and four critically injured when a speeding truck mowed through a crowd returning from a cultural function in a town in Assam’s Goalpara district, officials said Sunday.
A police spokesperson said the incident took place late Saturday evening on a national highway in Dudhnoi town in Goalpara, about 90 km west of Assam’s main city of Guwahati.
“About 20 people were walking along National Highway 37, returning home after attending a cultural show held at a local field, when a speeding truck plowed through the crowd,” police official A. Das said.
Twelve people were killed on the spot, seven of them young girls. The four critically injured were shifted to local hospitals.
“The trucker sped away before the locals could even react,” the official said.
Hundreds of locals squatted on the highway, blocking the road, to protest the accident.
“The bodies were strewn all over the highway with some of them dragged at least 100 metres from the accident site. The truck was travelling at break-neck speed and the driver did not reduce his speed even after the accident and sped away,” resident Bhargav Tamuly said.
The locals are demanding that police locate the truck. Residents have given police a detailed description of the vehicle, though no one could give the registration number of the truck.
“It was very dark when the accident took place and in the confusion no one really got time to react or take down the truck’s registration number,” the official said.