E-Paper
Twin school van mishaps in U.P. leave nearly two dozen kids hurt, one serious
Interestingly, in both incidents, the school vehicles ended up in roadside ditches after the impact.
Two early morning mishaps - in Kanpur and Basti - involving school vans carrying children, marked the start of the week. The mishaps left 23 students injured, one of them seriously, who had to be referred to the medical college in Ayodhya. Interestingly, in both incidents, the school vehicles ended up in roadside ditches after the impact.
In Kanpur, a roadways bus hit a school van carrying children, causing the van to overturn and fall into a roadside ditch. Six children were injured in the accident, police said.
The incident occurred near the Darweshabad power house on the Kunwarpur road, as the mini-bus of Children’s Public School was en route to collect students from Kunwarpur village. The roadways bus hit the rear end of the school van. The impact caused the van to flip over into a ditch, leaving the students trapped inside.
The driver of the roadways bus fled the scene immediately after the accident. Local villagers and police rushed to the spot and assisted in pulling the children out of the van. The injured children were safely rescued, along with the driver, Mansingh.
The children were promptly taken to the community health centre for treatment.
SHO Kotwali Sunil Singh said that the children were safe and that efforts were underway to have the vehicle lifted from the ditch. He added that once a formal complaint was filed, the police would take further action against the driver of the roadways bus.
Meanwhile, in Basti, at least 17 students of an English medium school near Basti were injured on Monday morning when a speeding school van overturned near Sewra Lal village, under the Chhawni police station limits. The van hit a roadside tree and toppled into a trench.
Circle officer of Hariya, Sanjay Singh, stated that the driver lost control of the vehicle, which led to the accident. Police personnel, and local residents, rescued and transported the injured students to a nearby community health center. Three of the students, who were seriously injured, were later referred to the medical college in Ayodhya for advanced treatment.
Sources said that the van was being driven by the vehicle’s cleaner, identified as Sonu, who is reportedly underage. Witnesses claim that Sonu was talking on the phone when the accident occurred.
The injured students ranged from Classes 3 to 8.
After emergency treatment, the injured students were handed over to their families. Meanwhile, the school principal accompanied seriously injured Dipty (9) to the medical college in Ayodhya to ensure she received proper medical attention.
Police officials have registered a case against the driver, and an arrest is expected soon.
