At least 12 people were killed and eight missing and presumed dead when the bus in which they were travelling in fell into a pond near Guwahati on Sunday.Kamrup Sub-Divisional Officer C K Bhuyan, supervising the rescue operations, said the bus carrying 22 people, including 18 passengers, from Silapathar in Dhemaji district to Guwahati fell into the pond at Patgaon at Sonapur, about 50 km from Guwahati, as it was about to climb a bridge.The helper Amal Das, who managed to swim ashore despite sustaining serious injuries, said there were no women or children in the bus.People from nearby villages rushed to the spot and fished out 12 bodies. Bhuyan said police, CRPF and army personnel have launched a search operation with the help of boats and army divers to find the bodies of the remaining persons.The district authorities have managed to get the names of the 18 passengers from the bus counter at Silapathar, where the tickets had been purchased."We have also asked authorities of the districts through which the bus passed to ascertain whether any passenger had boarded the vehicle on the way," he said.Das, who was rushed to Guwahati Medical College Hospital, later said the driver Lokesh Chetri, who is absconding, lost control of the bus while trying to negotiate a bend as the road was very narrow with the major part of it blocked due to the expansion work on NH 37.
