“The word miracle is appropriate here,” said Dr Dhrubajyoti Bhuyan, describing the survival of 22-year-old Budheswor Deep — the sole survivor among 22 people after their truck plunged 200 metres down a nearly vertical cliff in Arunachal Pradesh. As Deep lies on a hospital bed in Assam’s Dibrugarh, rescuers have so far recovered only six bodies from the gorge.
The challenges before the recovery team underline the scale of this “miracle”. The accident occurred on the evening of December 8 in a remote, mountainous location close to the China border, around 40 km from Hayuliang town. A mini-truck carrying 22 people — all from Assam’s Tinsukia — fell off the narrow mountain road into the ravine. It was discovered two days later, when Deep climbed out of the gorge and reached a Roads Task Force labour camp Wednesday evening to alert authorities.
On Thursday, the wreckage was found about 250 metres down. Recovery could begin only Friday after specialist teams from the National Disaster Response Force and the Indian Army arrived. With early sunset in this far eastern region, operations ended at 4 pm with six bodies retrieved.
“The mountainside by the road is at an almost 90-degree gradient… making the recovery of bodies difficult. There are 14 columns of the Army there and on Friday some specialist troops who specialise in mountaineering were inducted,” an Army spokesperson said.
Anjaw SP Anurag Dwivedi said bodies were retrieved from 200–250 metres but not all have been found. “Seventeen bodies have been visible to us… When the bodies that can be seen are lifted, the next step will be to examine the wreckage,” he said.
Authorities are not yet clear how Deep survived and climbed out. “He was not in a very stable condition… so we have not asked him about this in much detail,” said Dwivedi.
At the Assam Medical College & Hospital, Dr. Bhuyan said Deep had fractured hips and injuries to his lungs and brain but was stable. “With these injuries, he climbed up a steep mountainside… It is quite miraculous,” he said, adding Deep told them only: “bogai bogai ulalu(I climbed my way out)”.
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Deep, like most on the truck, lived in the labour lines of Tinsukia’s Gelapukhuri Tea Estate. Tinsukia MLA Sanjoy Kishan said all except the driver and one worker were from the estate. Roshni Kumari, whose uncle Rahul Kumar is among the victims, said they did daily wage work and had left fordhalai kaam. “So far, we don’t have any news… We just heard that the bodies will be coming,” she said.
SP Dwivedi said the contractor was questioned but released.
