30 injured in bus accident, driver absconding

As many as 30 persons were injured, some of them critically, when the bus they were travelling in fell into a ditch after hitting another vehicle coming from the opposite direction.

The incident occurred near Panagarh around 11 am on Saturday. Police said that the Bolpur-bound bus from Durgapur was running at a high speed when it hit a

Panagarh-bound vehicle on one side. The driver of the bus applied a sudden brake when he saw the other vehicle approaching it.

Due to the sudden brake, the driver lost control over the bus and it fell into a ditch. The incident occurred on Panagarh-Moregram state highway.

Traffic movement on the road was affected because of the accident. The driver and the helper of the bus fled the scene after the accident. The driver of the other vehicle coming from the opposite direction escaped without any injuries.

Hearing a loud thud, the local residents rushed to the spot and took part in the rescue operation before the police arrived.

The locals rescued many of the injured persons and took them to the Panagarh block hospital. Police also reached the spot immediately after the accident and rushed all the injured persons to the hospital.

Of them, the six persons whose injuries were serious in nature have been shifted to Durgapur sub-divisional hospital. The doctors at the hospital agreed that

their condition remained serious.

Local residents said that the bus was moving at a dangerously high speed when the accident occurred. Police brought a crane to the site and lifted the bus which had been partially damaged in the incident.

The local residents started a demonstration on the Panagarh-Moregram state highway following the incident. They protested the over-speeding of vehicles on the road which often causes road accidents in the area.

They alleged that the number of accidents on the Panagarh-Moregram Highway was on the rise and the police have failed to take steps against the vehicles that indulged in speeding and flouted traffic norms.

The demonstration was, however, lifted following the intervention of senior police officers. Police are conducting raids to nab the driver and the helper of the bus.