At least 21 labourers lost their lives and one person survived after the truck transporting them veered off a narrow mountain road and plunged into a deep gorge near Metengliang in Arunachal Pradesh’s Anjaw district, officials confirmed on Thursday. Although the accident occurred on December 8, the incident only came to light when the injured survivor reached the Chaglagam border outpost on Wednesday and informed officials.

According to Anjaw superintendent of police Anurag Dwivedi, the group of 22 labourers had departed from Assam’s Tinsukia district on December 7 for Chaglagam, where they were engaged in construction work. When they did not reach their destination by December 10, their colleagues reported them missing at the Hayuliang police station.

Local sources were alerted immediately. During the search, the Border Roads Task Force (BRTF) notified police that an injured man had arrived at their camp, claiming that the truck he was travelling in had crashed with 21 others inside. He received preliminary treatment before being shifted to Assam via Tezu for specialised medical care.

Early investigations indicate that the accident happened between 8pm and 9pm on December 8, roughly 11 km from Chaglagam. Due to the absence of mobile connectivity in the region, the tragedy remained unknown for almost 48 hours.

The survivor’s account helped the police pinpoint the crash location, after which joint rescue teams from the Army, Border Roads Organisation (BRO), local police, district administration, and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) began operations. Deputy superintendent of police Habung Sama said 17 bodies have been spotted so far, and retrieval efforts are ongoing. He noted that the gorge is nearly 700 metres deep, making rescue attempts extremely difficult. The incident is currently being treated as an accident.

Officials added that 18 of the 22 labourers were residents of the Gilapukhuri Tea Estate in Assam’s Tinsukia district.