31 die in Meghalaya accident

Thirty-one people were killed and 27 injured when a bus proceeding from Assam to Tripura rolled down a hill in Meghalaya early Wednesday, police said.

Two women were among those killed when the bus rolled down a 100 metre deep gorge in Tongseng, East Jaintia Hills district police chief M.K. Dkhar told IANS.

Tongseng is about 150 km east of Shillong, the capital of Meghalaya. The privately-owned night bus was on its way from Guwahati in Assam to Tripura capital Agartala.

Of the injured, Dkhar said seven were rushed to Silchar Medical College in southern Assam and the rest in nearby hospitals in the district.

"The rescue operations are over and investigation has begun to ascertain the cause of the accident," the officer said.

A Tripura official told IANS in Agartala that 27 people died on the spot.

The driver of the bus, who also died, lost control of the bus when he was taking a turn in the terrain cramped Assam-Agartala highway.

Tripura Transport Minister Manik Dey told IANS that a state government team had left for the site.

He said the place where the disaster site was "extremely accident prone". "Every year a number of accidents have occurred in the area. killing many people."