Two dead, 35 injured after bus falls in ditch

Two passengers were killed and 35 others were injured after a bus fell into a ditch at Ghatal's Radhanagar early on Saturday. The accident took place at around 5 am. The local residents and the police rescued the trapped persons inside the bus and took them to a nearby hospital.

The doctors declared two persons among 37 who were taken to the hospital for treatment brought dead. The doctors also said that the condition of eight persons among the injured is critical.

Police said the some portions of the bus were damaged. "The driver of the bus lost his control over the steering wheel when he was trying to take a u-turn. The passengers started screaming when the bus fell in the ditch. It was some local villagers who heard the screams following which they reached there and saw the passengers trapped inside the bus. These villagers called up the police for rescue work. The police with the help of local residents, rescued the trapped people from inside the bus," said a police officer.

The investigators learnt that the incident occurred after the driver fell asleep on the steering wheel and completely lost his control. Most of the passengers in the bus were from Ghatal, Kharagpur, Medinipur Sadar, Jhargram, Chandrokona, Daspur, Ramjibanpur, Khirpai and they were sleeping at the time of the accident.

Investigation revealed that the bus was going at a speed of around 110 km per hour. Police suspect that the driver was probably inebriated. "We have started an investigation. The owner of the bus will be interrogated. The accused driver will also be interrogated after he would recover from his injury," said a police officer.

The local residents said that the bus was coming from Pirakata and it was going towards Ghatal. "This is a popular route and at least seven to eight buses ply in this route every day," a local resident said.

The local residents agitated protesting against rash driving in this area. The agitation continued for more than two hours till policemen dispersed the mob. "Buses plying on this road tend to increase their speed unnecessarily. We demanded a traffic management system in this area," some local residents said.