Smog: 7 injured in school bus accident
Students were called to school to attend a function despite govt declaring a threeday holiday
BATHINDA: Seven people, including four children, were injured when a school bus collided with a tractor-trailer near Talwandi Sabo in Bathinda district on Friday morning. The accident reportedly occurred due to poor visibility owing to dense smog.
The mishap took place around 9 am when students of Akal Academy in Jaga Ram Tirath village of the district were headed to their school. They were called to the school to attend a religious function. This was despite the fact that the state government has declared holidays in schools in view of the prevailing dense smog in the region.
The seven injured include three schoolchildren and four people travelling in the tractor trolley, including a nine-year-old boy.
The injured students are Nardenderdeep Singh, 10, Parminder Singh, 13, and Ekam Jot, 6. The four others injured are Gurdev Kaur, 65, Nardev Kaur, 55, Sukhdeep Kaur, 40, and Karamjit Singh, 9.
Meanwhile, Bathinda deputy commissioner Diprava Lakra said appropriate action will be taken against the school for violating government order.
Station house officer of Talwandi Sabo police station, inspector Manoj Kumar, said a case under Section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) has been registered against school principal Rajinder Kaur.
This comes two days after nine people, including eight students, waiting by the roadside near Bhucho town, 10km from Bathinda city on the Chandigarh-Bathinda road, were crushed to death when a tipper truck — speeding even as smog had caused poor visibility — ran over them.