Kolkata: At least 40 persons were injured, 12 of them critically, when a bus rammed into a divider near Punjabi More on National Highway 2 on Saturday night.
The victims were returning home after attending a wedding party. Police said two buses were running one after the other on their way to Asansol.
They were coming from Ukhra area. One of the buses suddenly hit the divider. The driver lost control over the vehicle as it was at a high speed. The passengers were traumatised when locals rescued them from the bus.
Locals brought all the passengers out of the vehicle and then took them to a nearby hospital. Many of them were released after primary treatment while some others have been undergoing treatment at the hospital.
After being informed police reached the spot and started a probe. They are yet to ascertain the exact cause of the accident. They are suspecting the bus might have developed some technical snag during the accident.
They are investigating if the two buses were competing with each other while returning to Asansol on Saturday night.
The incident caused traffic congestion on busy National Highway 2. Senior police officers later brought the situation under control and normalcy was restored.
According to police, some of the victims had received injuries on their limbs and heads.
Around 12 persons are stated to be serious. It may be mentioned that as many 10 persons were injured in the last week in the same area when a minibus collided head on
with a truck.