A bus fell in a small stream-like canal on Thursday morning at Siliguri's Haskhoya and claimed the life of a schoolgirl. Several other passengers were also left injured after the incident.
The injured passengers were taken to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital but doctors declared the girl brought dead there.
At least 17 passengers including the driver were admitted to that hospital among those, eight passengers are critically injured, the hospital informed.
Police learnt that Megha Nagasia, a 14-year-old student and some of her friends boarded the bus from Siliguri's Bidhannagar.
These girls were the students of Subhamaya Suryatoran High School. Megha, a Class-VIII student, took the side seat by a window. The bus suddenly started to race with another bus, as both the vehicles were going towards the same direction.
Suddenly, a soil loaded truck came from the opposite direction. One of the speeding buses in which Megha and her friends were sitting, tried to dodge the truck. But the driver of the bus lost control over the wheels. As a result, the bus plunged into the canal.
The local residents joined hands with police to rescue the trapped passengers from the bus. They were sent to hospital. Later, a police crane pulled the bus up from the canal.
The police have called up the owner of the bus. The vehicle was seized. The investigators are looking for the other bus that was racing with the bus.
Meanwhile, in another incident, a speeding truck hit a cyclist on the Kandi State Highway at Murshidabad's Salar on Thursday morning. The brick loaded truck came from behind and hit an elderly person on the road. He succumbed to his injuries at the spot. Police said, Arun Upadhyay (60), a resident of Salar's Mithunia, died there. The driver of the killer vehicle was arrested and his vehicle was seized.