School bus crushes cyclist to death in Ghaziabad
According to the victim’s family, Kumar was the only earning member in the family and was working as a machine turner at the unit.
A 45-year-old man was knocked down by a school bus, ferrying nearly a dozen students of Delhi Public School Ghaziabad, Meerut Road on Tuesday morning. The victim’s kin have alleged that the bus was speeding and the driver resorted to rash driving which led to the incident in which the students escaped unhurt.
According to the police, victim Shiv Shanker Kumar, was riding his bicycle to his factory, Uttam Industrial Engineering, when the school bus hit the cyclist near Sihani Chungi on Meerut Road, the erstwhile NH-58. Locals from the nearby areas gathered and protested against the incident and also tried to block the main road following the accident.
However, the police rushed to the spot and pacified them. “We prevented damage to the bus which also had teachers, staff and students on board. The bus driver, Suresh Tyagi, fled the spot and our teams will nab him soon. The bus has been seized and brought to the police station,” said RS Khoda, senior sub inspector, Sihani Gate police station.
According to the victim’s family, Kumar was the only earning member in the family and was working as a machine turner at the unit.
“He managed to earn Rs 14,000 per month by working hard and he invested major share of his earnings for the education of his two sons. Both of them are pursuing B.Tech. Since their father is dead now, their studies will be severely affected,” said Umakant Jha, Kumar’s friend.
“Kumar was on way to his factory and the speeding bus hit him from behind. He suffered critical injuries and died after he was rushed to a local hospital,” Jha added.
“We have filed a police complaint into the matter and the body was sent for postmortem,” said Rinkesh, victim’s younger son.
The school authorities however defended the driver saying that he was driving cautiously and tried all means to stop the bus before it hit the cyclist.
“He was driving at around 30-35km per hour speed when the cyclist came on road from wrong side and this led to the accident. The bus belongs to the school while the driver is outsourced. The bus was on its way from Vijay Nagar to the school with students and staff on board,” said Sanjay Agarwal, vice-principal of the school.
This is the second incident in the recent past when a school bus got involved in an accident leading to death. On Saturday, a lower kindergarten student Saumya got crushed under the wheels of the school bus belonging to Silver Shine School. The bus had come to drop her back home and the driver allegedly reversed the bus while the child fell down and her head got crushed under the wheels.
The district magistrate on September 12 had called a meeting of all school principals and had directed them to take all safety and security measures to ensure safety of students, both inside the school premises and even in school transport.