6-yr-old girl run over by school bus after tractor hits her in Bilaspur

The victim, UKG student, died after a speeding tractor flung her before her school bus; both drivers detained, FIR for negligent driving filed.

A six-year-old girl on her way to school died after being hit by a speeding tractor and then being run over by her school bus in Bilaspur on Monday morning, police said. 

Six-year-old Yashika was flung by a tractor and crushed under her bus minutes after stepping out to go to school; both vehicles seized. (HT)

The deceased, identified as Yashika, an upper kindergarten student of a private school in Bilaspur, was killed around 7.20am in Dinokri village, moments after she stepped out of her home to board the bus, officers added. 

According to investigators, as soon as Yashika reached the single-lane village road, a speeding tractor hit her, flinging her several feet in the air. At the same moment, her school bus, which had arrived to pick her up, approached the spot. 

A senior police officer said the girl landed right in front of the bus, leaving the driver no time to react. “The bus driver could not slow down as everything happened in the blink of an eye. By the time the bus stopped, it had mowed down the student, resulting in her instant death,” the officer said. 

Police said both drivers immediately stopped at the spot and tried to help the child and her father, Ravi Chitani, who had reached the scene. Yashika was rushed to Civil Hospital in Sector 10A, where doctors declared her dead. 

“I was behind her carrying her bag and water bottle when I heard commotion and ran towards the bus stop to find her lying in a pool of blood beneath her school bus,” Chitani said, adding Yashika was his eldest child. He alleged both the tractor and the bus speeding on the narrow village road led to the accident.  

Eyewitness Sanjay Kumar, who helped arrange an ambulance, said the tractor’s metal bumper struck the girl first. “She was thrown away and came in front of the bus entering the village, which then ran over her,” he said, adding that both vehicles were moving fast despite seeing each other approach from opposite directions. 

Sandeep Turan, public relations officer of Gurugram police, said the police team reached the site after receiving information from the hospital. “The students inside the bus were shifted to another vehicle. Both vehicles were seized from the spot, and the drivers were taken to the police station for questioning and then detained.”

Turan added that an FIR under Sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving or riding on a public way) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita was registered at Bilaspur police station based on Chitani’s complaint. “We are scanning CCTV footage near the spot to ascertain what happened. Legal action will follow,” he said. 

A senior official from Yashika’s school called the incident tragic and said the school was cooperating with the investigation. “Yashika’s younger sister also studies here but her class timings are different. The bus involved was on contract after driver verification, and we have provided his details to the police,” the official said, requesting anonymity. 

Yashika’s body was handed over to the family after an autopsy on Monday evening, police said.