16 kids hurt in school bus mishap

NOIDA: Eighteen people, including 16 children, were injured when a school bus skidded off the road after running over construction material and hit a pillar at an underpass in Noida on Saturday morning, police said.

While the children suffered minor injuries and most were discharged after first aid, the driver’s condition is critical, police said. Noida Authority said it has fined its construction contractor for negligence in handling the construction material.

According to police, the incident took place around 8 am at Rajnigandha Underpass in Sector 16 when the bus belonging to Apeejay School — was on its way to the school in Sector 16A. There were around 30 children on the bus at the time of the incident.

Witnesses alleged that sand and construction material were strewn across the road and that the driver lost control when the vehicle ran over it. The injured, including driver Ganga Saran, conductor Satya Prakash and 16 children were rushed to a nearby hospital.

Manoj Pant, station house officer, Sector 20 police station, said: “We received information that a school bus met with an accident and immediately dispatched a team to the spot.”

“All the injured persons were rushed to Kailash Hospital in Sector 27. The children, who suffered minor injuries, were administered first aid and sent off to their respective homes. The driver of the bus, Saran, doctors said, is in a critical condition,” SHO Pant said.

The hospital said Saran suffered fractured limbs and the conductor suffered a head injury, besides blunt trauma on the chest and abdomen.

“The students travelling in the bus, the driver and conductor were brought to the hospital around 8.15 am. All students, except one 16-year-old girl who suffered injuries on her face, were given first aid and discharged.”