Nagaland: Medical college-bound truck crashes in Kohima town

Kohima: A fully-loaded truck carrying concrete blocks bound for the Nagaland Institute of Medical Sciences and Research (NIMSR) at Phriebagie met with an accident during the wee hours on Friday below North police station, destroying a wooden house that is home to a muslim family, and four other shops.

The incident took place at around 3 AM in the heart of Kohima town, halting regular traffic flow for several hours. Vehicles were diverted from Nagabazar to other parts of Kohima, leading to heavy traffic jams in the city.

At the site of the accident, officer-in charge of North traffic police, Puvezo Chuzho, told reporters that the Medical college-bound truck met with the accident after it took the wrong route and lost control while trying to revert. Two towing trucks, including a police truck, were deployed after the concrete block-laden truck was unloaded.

Chuzho informed that the driver of the truck was given the wrong direction, following which the heavy vehicle went uphill from the junction and met the accident. The officer informed that the driver suffered head injury and was given first aid at one of the private hospitals.

According to the officer, the driver escaped from the site of the accident out of fear as some locals allegedly became violent. At the time of writing this report, he said that no FIR was registered, however, the police have tracked down the driver. The police hinted that a suo moto case could be registered in this regard.

A wooden one-storey building, which housed a family of six, and four other shops, including two egg shops and two stationery-cosmetic shops in the basement, were destroyed.

48-year-old Abdul Kadir who owned one of the stationery and cosmetic shops, lived with his family upstairs. He has been running the shop for the last 12 years.

Speaking to journalists, Kadir said, “Me, my wife and two older children were awake for the pre-fast meal at our kitchen when we heard a loud noise. At that time, the two younger children were asleep, so we rushed towards the bedroom and saw that parts of our house had fallen apart and the shops below were destroyed. Luckily we rescued our children without any harm.”

The family is currently taking shelter at their kitchen, which is a concrete building adjoining their three bedded room. “We could not retrieve anything at the shop. We also have to somehow adjust to living here as it is hard to find a house here in the town. We have no choice. Later, we have to also break our fast around 5PM. We cannot do anything and will have to adjust for the night. We will see what happens in the days to come,” Kadir said.

Another businessman, Altaf Hussain, who has been running the other stationery and cosmetic shop for about 14 years, said, “I learnt about the incident after 3 PM since I don’t live in this neighborhood. Since the house is made out of wood, we are afraid to pull anything out of the shops. The wooden planks and pillars are attached, so we fear that the house will fall down and more damage will be done if we try to retrieve any item from below. We cannot take the risk.”

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