Bus-Truck Crash in India's Assam Kills at Least 24, Many Students

A bus collided with a container truck on a highway in the northeastern Indian state of Assam on Friday, killing at least 24 people and injuring 11 others, authorities said. ABC News, the BBC and Al Jazeera all reported the toll, and a police official told Reuters it was likely to rise.

The crash happened near Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site known for its one-horned rhinos. Al Jazeera placed it in Golaghat district, about 225 kilometers (140 miles) east of the state capital, Dispur.

Who was on the bus

Officials said children and the bus driver were among the dead. According to the BBC, Assam minister Atul Bora said several of the victims were college students, though they had not yet been publicly identified. ABC News described Bora as a state minister, while the BBC called him the state's rural development minister.

The BBC reported that the bus was carrying passengers from Bokakhat, the gateway to Kaziranga, and was headed toward Nagaon. Swapnaneel Deka, superintendent of police in Golaghat district, told Reuters that the bus had about 30 people on board and was traveling to a neighboring district. The injured were taken to Jorhat Medical College and Hospital, the BBC said.

What investigators know so far

Police are investigating the cause. Bora said witnesses reported that the bus was speeding before the crash, ABC News said. The BBC reported the account slightly differently: witnesses said one of the vehicles may have been speeding, and Bora cautioned that the exact reason would be known only after an investigation. Bora called the crash one of the worst in Assam's history, according to ABC News.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma wrote on X that he was deeply distressed. “The scale of this loss has shaken all of us,” he said, adding that the priority was to make sure the injured receive the best medical care without delay. Al Jazeera reported that he said local authorities were at the site overseeing relief arrangements.

What this means for road safety in India

The crash adds to a long record of deadly road accidents in India, which ABC News and Al Jazeera said has one of the highest rates of road fatalities in the world. They pointed to reckless driving, poorly maintained roads and aging vehicles as major factors.

The BBC said 172,000 people died on Indian roads in 2023, or 474 a day, roughly one every three minutes. It reported that the count rose to 183,382 deaths in 2025. Experts quoted by the BBC say the crisis is rooted not only in infrastructure but also in human behavior, gaps in enforcement and systemic neglect.

Lurinjyoti Gogoi, who leads a regional opposition party, said road safety has long been a major concern in Assam and urged the government to take it up seriously, according to the BBC.

Around Prague, based on reporting by ABC News, BBC News, Al Jazeera

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