Dhubri, Sept. 30: Two persons were killed and 50 injured when a speeding Guwahati-bound bus overturned on National Highway 37 this afternoon. The condition of five is stated to be critical.

The accident took place when the driver of an overcrowded bus, named Ma Janani, travelling from Jaleswar in Goalpara, lost control at Kacchadol under Rongjuli police station around 1.10pm.

The officer-in-charge of the police station, P. Bora, rushed to the spot and started shifting the injured to hospitals.

A police officer at Rongjuli said Ainal Hoque, 45, and Abidur Rahman, 35, both residents of Jaleswar, died on the spot.

The injured were shifted first to the Rongjuli community health centre and then to Dudhnoi hospital.

Those who sustained serious injuries were shifted to Goalpara Civil Hospital where the condition of five was stated to be critical.

As hundreds of passersby helped police rescue the trapped passengers, traffic on the highway was disrupted for nearly an hour.

The officer said when the driver of the bus (AS-01BC/2151) lost control, it first hit the railing of an RCC bridge at Kacchadol and tilted to its right before turning turtle.

“The driver of the bus may have tried to slam the brakes to bring the vehicle under control as people heard a screeching sound,” Bora said.

“According to our investigation, the spring plates above the right rear wheels were found broken. The driver could not control the vehicle, which was moving at high speed, and it knocked the railing of the bridge.”

The police have registered a case.

Baccha Ali of Jaleswar, who sustained injuries in his right hand, is undergoing treatment in the hospital at Dudhnoi.

The bus was running at a very high speed, the 26-year-old said. “The bus was packed with passengers. Many were standing in the aisle,” Ali said.

Since most of the passengers were from Jaleswar, shops in the area remained closed to condole the deaths, according to Saokat Husain, one of the injured passengers.