Father Mathew Das (clockwise from top left), Sisters Promila Tirkey, Melamine Dantes, and Rossie Nongrum, who died in a road accident in the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya. (Photos supplied)
By UCA News reporter
Feb 28 2023
All six occupants died instantaneously as an overspeeding truck rammed into their vehicle in northeast Meghalaya.
A priest, three nuns, and two others died in a road mishap in the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya on Feb. 26.
The accident took place in Sumer, Ri Bhoi district, when a truck carrying cement lost control and rammed into their vehicle in the opposite direction, killing all six occupants, including a male teacher and the driver, on the spot.
According to police, the overspeeding truck was going towards Guwahati in the neighboring Assam state when it lost control.
The victims were identified as Father Mathew Das, parish priest and principal of St. John’s High School in Barama, and Sisters Melamine Dantes Promila Tirkey and Rossie Nongrum. A male teacher identified only as Mairan and the driver are the other victims.
Their bodies have been taken to a hospital in Meghalaya for a post-mortem. All victims are from the Bongaigaon diocese in Assam state in eastern India.
The driver and the helper of the truck sustained serious injuries and are undergoing treatment.
Expressing his sadness, Bishop Thomas Pulloppillil of Bongaigaon said, “Sister Rossie, a Khasi tribal nun, had her final vows last month. She had come to visit other sisters in our diocese. The victims were on their way to drop her off when they met with the accident.”
“People in the diocese as well as in the state are in shock after hearing the sad news as they have lost a principal and teachers,” Bishop Pulloppillil told UCA News on Feb. 27.
The nuns belong to the Congregation of the Sisters of Our Lady of Fatima and their provincial house is in Meghalaya. So, most probably they will be buried there, the prelate said.
The Assam Christian Forum has expressed pain at the road mishap. Allen Brooks, the forum spokesperson, has asked the government to start a thorough investigation and sought compensation for the victims’ families.
Bongaigaon Diocese was carved out of the Archdiocese of Guwahati with an overall population of 5.2 million of which 56,855 (1.2 percent) are Catholics, comprising mainly tribal people, with the Bodos forming the single largest ethnic group.
