india

Updated: Oct 27, 2014 00:41 IST

Nine persons were killed and 24 others injured when a bus fell into a ditch after hitting the railing of a road in Nagaon district of Assam, early on Sunday.

Nagaon district SP, Arabinda Kalita said that the mishap occurred as the driver lost his control over the vehicle.

“The bus was in high speed and the driver lost his control over the vehicle. The bus was traveling from Lakhimpur and its destination was Guwahati. Among the nine dead, five are men and four are women”, said Kalita.

Police said that there were 33 people in the bus. The injured were initially admitted at the Nagaon civil hospital. Later, the eight persons who were critically injured were shifted to the Gauhati Medical College Hospital (GMCH).

The bus was operated by Assam State Transport Corporation (ASTC). There were allegations from injured passengers that due to negligence of state emergency ambulance service officials, they reached the Nagaon hospital about three hours late.

Chief minister, Tarun Gogoi has instituted a probe into the accident and expressed his condolences.