A pile up of four buses of the Hindustan Machine Tools (HMT) near Surajpur on the Shimla-Panchkula highway left 26 people injured with three in serious condition on Tuesday.
Four buses ferrying employees residing in Chandigarh and Panchkula left HMT premises around 4.40 pm. While coming down on a slope, the first bus which was being driven by Narinder Kumar and was heading towards Shehzadpur had an engine failure causing it to stop in the middle of the road.
The second bus, which was immediately behind the first one, rammed into it and its driver Harjit Kumar was thrown into the first bus.
This bus was heading towards SAS Nagar-Kharar.The third bus, which was en route to Chandigarh-Sohana, rammed into the second one, and the fourth bus, which was on its way to Mullanpur side, rammed into the third bus.
The third bus was being driven by Vijay Kumar and Rajinder Kumar was at the wheels in the fourth bus.
The injured people, Most of who were seated in second and third buses, were shifted to General Hospital in Sector 6 of Panchkula.
Those seriously injured included Harjit Kumar, driver of the second bus, and were referred to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) , Chandigarh. He received head and leg injuries.
An elderly couple got stuck between two seats in the second bus after the third bus rammed into it. It took time to rescue them as gas cutter had to be used. It took close to one-andhalf-hour to rescue all people.
{{/usCountry}}An elderly couple got stuck between two seats in the second bus after the third bus rammed into it. It took time to rescue them as gas cutter had to be used. It took close to one-andhalf-hour to rescue all people.
{{/usCountry}}“The accident took place around 5.15 pm. So far, no FIR has been registered. We are yet to record statements,” said Pinjore station house officer, inspector Lalit Kumar.
Meanwhile, there was a traffic jam on the stretch and cops took one hour to clear it.