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8 killed, 26 injured in Bathinda bus crash
The bus with 46 passengers was en route to Bathinda from Sardulgarh (in Mansa district). The accident occurred on the Talwandi Sabo-Bathinda stretch. Eyewitnesses said the bus crashed through the railing of a bridge before it fell into the filthy drain.
Eight passengers, including the driver and a two-year-old girl child, were killed, while 26 suffered injuries when a private bus crashed through the railings of the bridge and plunged into a drain in Bathinda district on Friday afternoon.
The deceased have been identified as the driver of the ill-fated bus Balkar Singh (55), Mukhtyar Kaur (50) and Mahinder Singh (age not ascertained).
Other victims include Ravneet Kaur (17), Amandeep Kaur (30), Paramjeet Kaur (25), Arjan Kumar (35).
The bus with 46 passengers was en route to Bathinda from Sardulgarh (in Mansa district). The accident occurred on the Talwandi Sabo-Bathinda stretch. Eyewitnesses said the bus crashed through the railing of a bridge before it fell into the filthy drain.
Soon after the accident, district officials, including Bathinda deputy commissioner Showkat Ahmad Parray and senior superintendent of police (SSP) Amneet Kondal, rushed to the spot.
Kondal said cranes were pressed into service to pull the bus out of the canal.
She said that local villagers and passersby were the first to swing into action to rescue passengers from the submerged bus.
Later, teams of NDRF, medical and police authorities were rushed in for aid, she added.
DC Parray said that a total of 46 passengers were rescued from the bus that was submerged into the Lissara drain at Jiwan Singwala village.
“As many as 34 were sent to hospitals in Talwandi Sabo and Bathinda. Eight persons were declared dead while the rest are under treatment,” the DC said.
“Experts of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) screened the accident site five times and there is no apprehension that anyone is still stuck in the drain,” he added.
SSP Kondal said that according to the rescued passengers, an unidentified truck hit the bus head-on before it plunged into the drain.
“There is no CCTV footage available of the accident. We are taking statements from the passengers to register a case against an unknown truck driver. Further action will be initiated after identifying the speeding truck,” she added
The DC said five died during treatment at the government hospital in the Talwandi Sabo subdivision while three others succumbed to multiple injuries at Shaheed Bhai Mani Singh Civil Hospital in Bathinda City.
“Twenty-one passengers were rushed to the Bathinda district hospital and three of them died there. Two of the injured were referred to a private hospital and are in stable condition whereas 16 others are being treated and are stable,” he said.
DC further stated that a batch of 13 passengers was sent to Talwandi Sabo civil hospital and five of them died during treatment.
District officials said it was raining in Bathinda when the accident took place.
Expressing condolences, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a post on X, said: “Saddened by the loss of lives in the bus accident in Bathinda, Punjab. Condolences to those who lost their loved ones. May the injured recover soon.”
He also announced an ex-gratia of ₹2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s National Relief Fund (PMNRF) to the next of kin of each deceased and ₹50,000 for the injured.
