23 school kids die in HP bus mishap
TOLL 27 Driver, 2 teachers & a woman also killed; 13 boys, 10 girls among dead TRAGIC HOMECOMING Bus ferrying kids home plunges into gorge at Nurpur HUMAN ERROR 65yrold driver loses control while negotiating a sharp curve
persons, including 23 students, were killed on Monday when a private school bus fell into a gorge in Nurpur in Himachal Pradesh’s Kangra district.
The accident took place around 4:30 pm near Malkwal village on the Nurpur-Chamba road, around 60 km from the district headquarters. The bus belonging to Wazir Ram Singh Pathania Memorial Public School was ferrying around 45 children home after school. The bus driver, two women teachers and an unidentified woman, who had taken a lift, were among the dead.
Confirming the deaths, Kangra deputy commissioner Sandeep Kumar said the deceased children were in the age group of 5 to 11.“The exact cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained. Prima facie the driver lost control over the wheel while negotiating a sharp curve,” he added.
An injured student Ranveer Singh told HT that he fell out of a window after the bus starting rolling down into the gorge. Teams of local administration and the National Disaster Response Force were involved in the rescue and faced tough time in pulling out the victims from the mangled bus. The injured were rushed to the Nurpur civil hospital from where eight critically injured were shifted to a Pathankot hospital.
Chief minister Jai Ram Thakur, governor Acharya Devvrat and Union health minister JP Nadda condoled the deaths.
He has ordred magisterial inquiry. The government has announced an ex gratia of Rs 5,00,000 to the next of kin of those killed and free treatment to the injured.
Food and civil supplies Minis- ter Kishan Kapoor along with Kangra local legislator Rakesh Pathania and DC Kumar reached the spot to supervise rescue and relief operation.
NURPUR: Nurpur resident Naresh Kumar’s world came crashing down as he lost both his children, son Natik, 14, and daughter Shrutika, 11, in the bus mishap that claimed 27 lives on Monday.
“I had never thought that I won’t be able to see them again,” said an inconsolable Naresh. His wife is in deep shock.
MIRACULOUS ESCAPE
For 10-year-old Ranveer Singh, it was a miraculous escape, as he and a girl sitting along with him fell from the window (at 25-foot) of the bus that rolled down into a 200-foot deep gorge.
“I heard a loud bang and the bus started rolling down the hill. Just then the window of my seat broke and I and a girl sitting by my side fell down,” said Singh, who is being treated at the Nurpur hospital.
Despite knowing that 23 of his school mates have died, Singh who seemed calm and composed, said, “It occurred in a fraction of second and I can’t recall how it actually happened. When it happened, I saw a bike passing by.”
Most of the deceased belonged to Sulyali, Ther, Puhara and Gatla of Kangra district.
A rescuer, who identified himself as Kaka, said it was first day of the school for a 5-year-old boy whose body was retrieved with a teddy bear still in his hand.
Another person Anish Pathania, who was involved in the rescue operation, said they rushed the kids to the hospital in private cars and bikes.
Meanwhile, a close-knit family also lost three kids, the rescuers told.
CHAOS AT THE HOSPITAL
Meanwhile, it was complete chaos at the Nurpur civil hospital as ambulances shuttled between the accident spot and hospitals at Pathankot and Nurpur.
Heart-rending scenes were witnessed as parents identified bodies of their kids.
A large crowd gathered at the hospital and relatives were seen making frenetic calls to near and dear ones.
Political leaders, including food and civil supply minister Kishan Kapoor, urban development minister Sarween Chaudhary, Nurpur MLA Rakesh Pathania, and former MLA Ajay Mahajan also arrived at the hospital to be with bereaved families.