AMN / Amritsar
AT LEAST Seven school children were killed and 20 injured some of them seriously after a school bus fell into a drain in Mahawa village near Indo-Pak border in Amritsar on Tuesday afternoon. The children who died were between 7 and 12 years. Police said their identities had yet to be established.
According to police children believed to be 30-40 in number were students of MKD DAV Public School in Attari’s Neshta village.
Eyewitnesses claim the bus hit a wall while crossing a bridge over the drain. The impact caused part of the bus to hang precariously over the drain below, prompting panicked children to rush to the front of the bus.The vehicle hung dangerously for a few minutes before it fell into the water.
A farmer grazing his animals nearby was the first to witness the accident and sound an alert, bringing residents from adjoining villages to the site of the accident.
The wounded have been taken to hospitals in Attari and Amritsar. Amritsar Deputy Superintendent of Police Amandeep Kaur said five of 11 children brought to a private hospital in Chheharta were declared brought dead. The others are currently in the hospital’s Intensive Care Unit.
Another child died in a hospital in Attar while police confirmed another child’s death later in the evening.
Rescue operations continued as divers searched the drain for the remaining children. MLA Gulzar Singh Ranike reached the accident site.
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Meanwhile, police machinery is already drawing criticisms for its “tardy” pace of action. Residents of the village claim that police reached the accident site an hour late because of shortage of staff. An ambulance from Chabbal arrived after villagers had already taken rescued children to hospitals in their own vehicles.