28 dead in Indian road crash

Thirteen children are among 28 people who have died in a truck and minivan crash in India as labourers were making their way to work.

A cargo truck has crashed into two minivans packed with labourers heading to work in northeast India, killing 28 people, including 13 children.

A further 20 people were injured, some critically, when the 10-wheeler truck slammed into the oncoming minivans on a highway about 160km west of Gauhati, the capital of Assam state, police said.

The minivans, which had been carrying workers to a local brick kiln, were smashed into mangled metal masses and pushed into a roadside ditch.

Among the dead were five women. Some had been taking their children to work to be looked after during the day.

The truck was on its way to the neighbouring state of West Bengal.

Police say they have yet to account for the truck driver, though one of two people in the truck is believed to be among the dead.