Three killed, 11 injured as bus carrying 60 passengers rams truck in Kushinagar

The deceased girl was identified as Nandini, 3, daughter of Pawan, a resident of Taryal Chhiram village under Taraya Sujan police station limits. Her father was among the injured. The identities of the two other deceased men, aged around 40, were yet to be established. Four critically injured passengers were referred to the district hospital.

Three passengers, including a three-year-old girl, were killed and 11 others injured after a bus carrying around 60 people from Delhi to Bihar rammed into a truck while overtaking it in Kushinagar in the early hours of Saturday, police said.

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Two passengers died on the spot, while a third succumbed to injuries during treatment, Kushinagar additional SP Siddharth Verma said.

The deceased girl was identified as Nandini, 3, daughter of Pawan, a resident of Taryal Chhiram village under Taraya Sujan police station limits. Her father was among the injured. The identities of the two other deceased men, aged around 40, were yet to be established. Four critically injured passengers were referred to the district hospital. Three of the injured were Nepalese nationals, Ravindra Nagar police station SHO Amit Kumar Singh said.

The accident occurred around 4:30am near Labaniya village under Tamkuhi Raj police station limits, around 45 km from the district headquarters. The bus, operated by Shiva Travels, was travelling from Delhi to Muzaffarpur in Bihar. Many passengers were heading home for Diwali and Chhath celebrations.

According to police, the bus collided with the rear portion of a truck while attempting to overtake it. The impact badly mangled the front portion of the bus, throwing some passengers through the shattered windshield onto the road. The truck driver fled with his vehicle.

SHO Amit Kumar Singh said the bodies had been sent for post-mortem examination. Police have initiated further legal proceedings, while the exact cause of the collision is being investigated.

Police personnel reached the spot after passersby alerted them. They rescued the passengers and shifted the injured to a community health centre in ambulances.

A passenger, Dharmendra, a resident of Kamalpura village in Muzaffarpur’s Paroo area, said the bus had left Anand Vihar in Delhi at 1:30pm on Friday.

“Most of us were asleep when we felt a sudden jolt around 4:30 am. Several passengers fell from their seats and there was panic and screaming inside the bus. When we got out, we saw that the left side of the bus had been badly hit,” he said.

The accident occurred barely 3 km from Tamkuhi Raj, where several passengers were scheduled to get off. Some were standing near the entrance in anticipation of reaching their destination.