1 dead, 20 kids injured in e-way bus mishap
YAMUNA EXPRESSWAY Nine students critically injured in incident, the group was on its way to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal and Vrindavan
AGRA: The driver of a school bus died while more than 20 students were critically injured in a road accident on the Yamuna Expressway on Friday morning.
All the students are from Alok Bharti Vidyalaya of Kotli town in Himachal Pradesh’s Mandi district. They were coming to Agra to see the Taj Mahal and had also planned a visit to Vrindavan and Fatehpur Sikri.
“While the driver, Harish Kumar, died, nine other students were critically injured,” said Gaurav Dayal, district magistrate, Agra.
He said one of the arms of Abhishek Kumar, a Class 12 student, and the leg of the cook, Pushp Raj, had to be amputated.
“Two buses hired from Chandigarh had left from school on Thursday afternoon. The driver lost control as a tyre got punctured near Khandoli toll plaza at about 10am on Friday,” said Bharat Bhushan, the tour operator, who was also injured and is currently recuperating at Agra’s Jay Hospital.
Police said the second bus reached the hotel safely, unaware about the accident.
“We were sleeping when the tyre got flat and the bus hit the side wall of the road. There was panic all around before we were brought to hospital,” said Ankit Malhotra, a student of Class 9.
Deputy superintendent of police, Shlok Kumar, said the students were being treated at different hospitals of Agra and arrangements were being made to bring the parents here.
Commissioner, Agra division, K Ram Mohan Rao, visited the SN Medical College where eight students and one teacher are undergoing treatment.
Uttar Pradesh principal secretary (home), Arvind Kumar, said the bus was carrying 45 students, six teachers and six tour organisers. “The district magistrate and the SSP of Agra rushed to the accident site to oversee rescue and relief operation,” he said.