Guwahati: The site of Friday’s accident at Kohora in Assam’s Kaziranga, in which 24 people were killed and several others injured, is located on a two-lane national highway where speed restrictions are in force.The accident occurred near the Rangajan water supply project at around 2.45pm, when a 26-seater mini-bus, registered in 2015 and carrying more than 40 passengers from Golaghat to Nagaon, collided head-on with a container trailer travelling from Tezpur to Golaghat.Cabinet minister and local MLA Atul Bora, who reached the spot after the accident and supervised rescue operations and arrangements for medical assistance, said “the extent of damage to the mini-bus and the death toll indicated that overspeeding could have been a factor”.Speed restrictions are enforced along the entire stretch of more than 60km of the highway. The maximum speed limit is 20kmph in identified animal corridors and 40kmph on the remaining stretches. Speed-monitoring cameras have been installed at several locations along the highway.Official sources said the accident site did not fall within any of the identified animal corridors.“The spot is around 3km from the animal corridor at the western end and about 3-4km from the corridor at the eastern end. It is also more than 2km from Kohora Model Hospital, where the injured people were initially admitted,” a source said.There are nine identified animal corridors along the 60km-plus stretch of the highway.Transport department officials said the bus’s speed would have been captured by the monitoring cameras. While records showed that the vehicle had valid documents and permits, officials suspected that it was carrying more passengers than its sanctioned seating capacity.“Preliminary probe also shows that a challan for overspeeding is pending against the mini-bus. The challan was issued in March,” an official said.Officials said the apparent overloading could constitute a violation of motor vehicle laws, given the number of fatalities and injuries.
