Bus rolls backwards over cliff
ON September 13, 1986, The Fiji Times reported that a 45- year-old woman suffered head injuries and several other people, including schoolchildren, were hurt when a bus rolled backwards over a cliff while trying to climb a hill at the Nausori Highlands.
The accident, which was the third on the highland road that year, sparked calls by angry residents for improvement to the roads and a check on buses.
A housewife, Noor Fatima, 45, was rushed to the Nadi Hospital after the 3pm accident.
A spokesman at the hospital, Dr Dev Prakash Sood, said she was now in satisfactory condition.
Mrs Fatima had suffered head injuries and was sent to the Lautoka Hospital for an X-ray examination.
Two other women, Phul Kumari, 29, and Ben Mati, 60, of Mulomulo suffered body injuries.
They were treated at the Nadi Hospital and sent home.
Mrs Kumari said passengers asked the driver of the bus to allow them to get off at the bottom of the steep rise which was difficult to climb.
She said the driver told them to sit down and he would try to climb the rise.
“He climbed the bottom section of the road and then stopped,” she said,
“We all got up and asked him to let us get off before he tried to make the climb again.
“But he told us to sit down again.
“The bus then reversed and fell sideways over the cliff. The fall was slow and the bus came to a rest on its side.
“Most of the roof caved in.”
Mrs Kumari said screaming schoolchildren and women passengers quickly got out of the bus belonging to Imamu Dean.
The bus was extensively damaged.
Mr Dean could not be reached for a comment.
Two students of Nausori Highland Primary School told The Fiji Times they were frightened of travelling by bus after the accident.
Imran Ali, 12, and his brother, Ishrat Ali, 13, were treated at the hospital and sent home.
Both students were among 30 schoolchildren who were in the bus.
The bus was on its way up the Nausori Highland Rd past Mulomulo when the accident happened.