Jagraon crash: 7-year-old boy killed, 5 hurt as school van rams into tree

A seven-year-old boy was killed while five others were injured after a school van rammed into a tree on Raikot Road in Jagraon subdivision of Ludhiana district on Tuesday morning

Ludhiana : A seven-year-old boy was killed while five others were injured after a school van rammed into a tree on Raikot Road in Jagraon subdivision of Ludhiana district on Tuesday morning.

A Class-1 student, Gurnam Singh, who belongs to the nearby Akhara village, fell off the vehicle and died on the spot, the police said, adding the condition of the five children, who were admitted to a nearby hospital, is stable.

Jagraon city station house officer (SHO) Amritpal Singh said a hunt has been launched to arrest the driver, Chamkaur Singh, who fled after the accident.

The police lodged an FIR against the driver, principal and management of Sanmati Vimal Jain Senior Secondary School, Jagraon. The police found that the van was unfit for plying on the road.

There were 25 children in the van when the accident took place. Eyewitnesses said the driver lost control over the van and it crashed into the tree. They rushed the children to a nearby hospital and informed the police.

Some children with minor injuries were discharged after being administered first aid at the hospital, they said.

Later, parents of the children held a protest and blocked the Raikot Road seeking the arrest of the driver, who they claimed was drunk at the time of the accident. The protest continued for at least six hours. The police officials pacified the protestors and assured them of action.

The FIR has been lodged following the statement of Satnam Singh, father of the victim. The complainant, who is a tractor mechanic, stated his elder son Sukhman Singh, 11, also suffered injuries in the mishap.

The complainant added that the driver of the bus was negligent, and a drug addict. He made several complaints to teachers, principal and school management to change the driver during the parent-teacher meeting, but to no avail, Satnam said.

A case under Sections 106, 281, 125 (A), 125 (B) and 61 (2) of BNS has been registered.

The Punjab State Commission for Protection of Child Rights took cognisance of the matter and issued a letter to the SSP Ludhiana rural police (Jagraon) and sought a detailed report by August 8.

Kanwardeep Singh, chairman of the commission, said that school buses should fulfil the safety standards according to the Safe School Vahan Scheme and it is the responsibility of the school principal to ensure that only those vehicles which comply these safety standards are used for transporting students.

The chairman said a letter has been sent to the senior superintendent of police to determine the cause of the accident.