India: 18 workers asleep on the highway killed after a collision
Eva Deschamps / July 28, 2021
Eighteen workers who were sleeping on the highway after a bus breakdown in northern India died in a collision with a truck, police said Wednesday. At least 19 other people were injured in the tragedy in the state, a local police official told reporters.
Most of the workers were returning to their homes in the western state of Bihar after the end of their work contract. The passengers got off the bus after the driveshaft broke and were sleeping next to the vehicle when a truck hit it from behind. Rescue workers had to recover some of the bodies trapped under the double-decker bus.
The district administration and the police have launched an investigation and we are ensuring that the injured receive the best medical treatment available, said Satya Narayan Sabat, a police official.
India's vast road network is poorly maintained and notoriously dangerous. About 150,000 people die every year in road accidents in the country, according to official figures. The main causes of accidents are speeding and not wearing seatbelts or helmets.