Tura, Sep 30: A major bus accident has taken place in which the Meghalaya Transport Corporation night bus going from Tura to Shillong via Nongstoin skidded off the bridge at Nongshram and fell into the river below on Wednesday night.
Preliminary reports inform that scores of passengers who were asleep in the bus when the accident took place have sustained injuries and are being rushed to Williamnagar and Tura civil hospitals.
The place of accident in Nongshram bridge is the border between East Garo Hills and West Khasi Hills district. It happened late into the night after the bus had crossed Rongjeng town on its way to Shillong.
The daily MTC bus that goes from Williamnagar to Tura to pick up passengers and return the same route has been using the Tura-Nongstoin highway to head to Shillong each night.
Some injured passengers have told locals who came from the nearby village to help in the rescue that the bus was speeding when the accident happened.
The front portion of the bus hit the bridge posts on the side and went over into the water. The MTC drivers have a long history of reckless driving and this is suspected to be the main cause of the accident. More details are awaited.
