Kolkata: As many as ten passengers have been injured when two private buses collided head on in Mahishadal area of East Midnapore on Tuesday morning.
The injured victims, who were travelling in those two buses, have been admitted to a nearby hospital. Later some of them were shifted to a city hospital as their conditions deteriorated.
According to police, the accident took place on Haldia-Mecheda State Highway.
Locals staged a protest demonstration on the spot against rash driving of vehicles. The demonstration was later lifted after the intervention of senior police officers in the district.
The incident had caused traffic congestion on the busy road for nearly an hour in the morning.
Police said it was raining in the area when a Mecheda-bound private bus from Haldia, with around 30 passengers on board, hit another private bus coming from the opposite direction.
According to police, there were around 25 passengers on the other bus that was going towards Haldia from Kolaghat.
A preliminary investigation suggests that both vehicles were running at a high speed at the time of the accident.
The exact cause of the accident is yet to be ascertained by the district police. Both the bus drivers fled the spot immediately after the accident.
Some locals heard a loud thud and reached the spot.
They rescued the injured victims from the vehicles and rushed them to hospital. The other passengers who were inside the two buses were traumatised.
Some of the passengers, who were travelling on the Mecheda bound bus told police that they had repeatedly urged the bus driver to slow down but he turned a deaf ear to their appeal.
While taking a sharp bend near Mahishadal, the driver lost control over the vehicle and collided head on with the other vehicle.
A probe has been initiated. Raids are being conducted to nab the bus drivers.