Bathinda: Eight people were killed and more than 20 injured Friday when a bus crashed through the railing of a bridge and plunged into a drain a few feet below here, police said.
The private bus had more than 45 passengers and it fell into the Lasara drain in Jeewan Singhwala village, they said.
Bathinda Deputy Commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray and Senior Superintendent of Police Amneet Kondal said that according to preliminary investigations, the bus was at a high speed and the driver probably lost control over the vehicle while trying to avert a collision with an oncoming trailer truck.
According to the officials, the weather in the area was inclement.
The accident occurred when the bus was on its way to Bathinda from Talwandi Sabo. Locals rushed to the spot immediately to help the passengers, the officials said, adding that eight people including five women were killed in the incident.
Police and district administration officials launched a rescue operation and rushed the injured people to a hospital. A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team also reached the spot to provide assistance, the officials said.
President Droupadi Murmu expressed their deepest condolences over the loss of lives in the bus accident and prayed for a speedy recovery of those injured.
“I am deeply saddened by the news of the death of many people in a bus accident in Bathinda, Punjab. I express my deepest condolences to all the bereaved families and pray to God for a speedy recovery of all those injured in this accident,” President Murmu said in a post in Hindi on X.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed grief over the incident. “Saddened by the loss of lives in the bus accident in Bathinda, Punjab. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon,” he said in a post on X.
The prime minister also announced an ex-gratia amount of Rs 2 lakh each from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 each for the injured.
The drain in which the bus fell is currently a carrier of sewage water, which made the rescue operations difficult.
Parray, who reached the spot to supervise the rescue operations, said earlier in the day that medical teams and ambulances were rushed to the spot immediately after the accident.
While five people were killed on the spot, three succumbed to their injuries in the hospital. More than 20 people were injured in the accident, police said.
Bathinda Urban MLA Jagroop Singh Gill visited the civil hospital here, where the injured were taken.
Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann, in a post on X, said a team of the state administration reached the spot after the accident and the injured were rushed to a hospital.
“I pray to God for peace to the departed souls and a speedy recovery of the injured passengers,” Mann said.
Former Punjab chief minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Amarinder Singh, in a post on X, said: “Deeply saddened by the tragic bus accident in Bathinda, that has claimed 8 lives and injured 26.
“My heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims. May they find strength in this difficult time and I pray for the quick recovery of all injured.”
PTI