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Haryana school bus accident: Distraught parents blame school management
Cries of students writhing in pain were heard after the bus, which was being driven rashly, met with an accident
Three families in Jharli village and two in Danonda village in Haryana’s Mahendergarh, are in a state of shock after six children were killed after a private bus with 37 students on board and allegedly driven by a ‘drunk’ driver overturned and rammed into a roadside tree near Unhani village on Thursday morning.
Heart-rending scenes were witnessed at the accident site. Cries of students writhing in pain were heard after the bus, which was being driven rashly, met with an accident. Due to high speed, the driver lost control and rammed the bus into a tree after which it overturned.
Hearing the cries of the children, some passersby rushed to help, pulling out children from the damaged bus.
Parents alleged that the school authorities were informed about the bus driver’s drinking habit. Parents of the students, a stop before the place of the accident, even on Thursday brought the issue of the driver being drunk to the notice of school authorities and took the keys from the driver, said a Class 12 student Anuj in her complaint to the police.
A doctor at a hospital near the accident site where 20 of the injured children were taken told reporters that four students were brought dead and one, who was on ventilator, later succumbed to injuries. Another student admitted to a private hospital also succumbed later.
The last rites of four children, including two brothers Anshu and Yashu were performed at Jharli village and two children at Danonda village in the evening in the presence of Haryana government ministers- Seema Trikha, Kamal Gupta and Banwari Lal. The families were grief-stricken after the death of their loved ones.
An injured Class 9 student Aditya of Danonda village, who is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Rewari, said that the bus driver was drunk and he was speeding the bus at a speed of 120 Kmph.
“We complained to school management earlier and even today about the bus driver. The school authorities assured us that the bus driver will be changed tomorrow. The bus driver lost control over the vehicle and it rammed into a tree from behind and the bus’s front part hit a canal. The students sitting on the front and last rows of the bus received injuries after the glass of the windows was broken. The bus driver jumped when the bus collided with a tree,” he said.
Sanjay Kumar, a farmer from Jharli village said that they were working in fields and suddenly they received phone calls about the accident.
“I have lost my son Yuvraj, a Class 9 student in this mishap. His mother had prepared breakfast for him before coming to the fields. We were happy when he was promoted to Class 9. My younger son had refused to go school citing that he would go to fields to help them in wheat harvesting,” he added.
The grief-stricken father said that the parents of children at Kheri village had snatched the key from the bus driver and they informed school principal Deepti Rao about the same.
“She told the parents to give back the key to the bus driver as children are getting late. She assured the parents that a new bus driver will come from tomorrow. We had complained about the driver to school authorities several times but they failed to change him,” he added.
Sandeep Kumar, a despaired father said that he had lost his both sons in the road mishap.
“I have lost everything after the death of my both sons - Anshu (Class 9 )and Yashu (Class 10 student) in this tragic road mishap. The school authorities, bus driver and administration all are responsible for this incident. My life has been ruined and I am hollow today. What will I do after the death of my two young sons? I have dreamed of making them successful persons but my dreams have been shattered today. Why the school was opened despite a government holiday and what the government was doing. The families who have lost their loved ones know the price of a child,” he added.
The relatives of Divya, a resident of Kheri village, who is undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Rewari, were nervous after the doctors told them that she had blood clotting and her condition was improving.
“Had the villagers not given the key to the bus driver, six young lives could have been saved. The school principal was adamant and she was responsible along with the bus driver for these six deaths. The school bus had an expired fitness certificate and the driver was drunk, what more bad can be expected from school management and they are solely responsible for the loss of children,” they added.
The government has ordered a probe into the incident following the registration of an FIR, transport minister Aseem Goel said.
Goel said the bus involved in the accident was fined recently as it did not have certain documents and the fact that it was still being used was a clear lapse on the part of the school authorities.
The minister said he has directed officials that the fitness of all school buses be checked. The district transport officer will issue circulars in this regard to district education officers, he added.
