ITANAGAR, 5 May: A pickup truck, laden with iron rods, careened off the road near Koloriang town in Kurung Kumey district and plunged into the Kurung river on Saturday morning.
The driver of the vehicle, identified as Merung Bahadur Limbu (42), a resident of Gohpur in Assam and father of three, is feared dead. However, the handyman, Donesh Sobar, also a native of Assam, managed to survive with minor injuries.
The accident occurred when the mini-truck was on its way to Nangram village, crossing Kurung bridge, which serves as the junction between Koloriang and Parsi Parlo towns.
Kurung Kumey SP Bomken Basar informed that the mini-truck was on its way to Nangram village on the Parsi Parlo PMGSY road.
“There is a weak portion of road, known as ‘sliding zone’due to continuous soil erosion, at the starting point of the Parsi Parlo road. In the morning, a tractor crossed this portion of road, making the soil weaker. The mini-truck, which followed, skidded down on the loose soil, and plunged into the Kurung river,” the SP said.
“The driver and the handymen were in the vehicle when it fell into the river. The handyman managed to escape, swimming to safety with leg injuries requiring seven stitches. The whereabouts of the driver is not known and he is feared drowned,” the SP said.
A rescue team comprising police personnel and members of the BRO, the district administration, and the Koloriang Market Association, along with others managed to retrieve the heavily damaged vehicle, but the body of the driver was missing.
The rescue team informed the nearest police stations of Sangram and Palin, and even other districts, urging them to conduct search operations for the missing body.
