PATACHARKUCHI, Jan 2 � Atleast 80 passengers of a jam-packed Guwahati-bound passenger bus were injured, around 20 of them seriously, when the bus (AS-01-Z-9425) met with an accident on NH-31 near Pathsala around 1.15 pm today.
The driver and handyman of the bus were among those critically injured. Saifuddin Ahmed of Sangshari, the driver of the ill-fated bus, told this correspondent that the accident occurred due to failure of its steering. But one of the injured passengers informed that the driver tried to overtake a small vehicle at high speed and directly hit in the front side of a concrete bridge and fell down on the road.
The injured were shifted to Guwahati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). They include Gayatri Patgiri (47), Mantu Das (35), Trilochan Das (38), Barun Swargiary (45) and Nirmal Basumatary, (55). All the injured were rescued by police, public and 108 Service.
