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23 injured as school bus falls into gorge near Pune
At least 23 persons including school children, a teacher of a school and an assistant on the bus were injured when a private bus they were travelling in fell into a gorge near Giravali village in Ambegaon tehsil on Tuesday afternoon, officials said
At least 23 persons including school children, a teacher of a school and an assistant on the bus were injured when a private bus they were travelling in fell into a gorge near Giravali village in Ambegaon tehsil on Tuesday afternoon, officials said.
Among the students who sustained injuries, two were reported to be critical with one of them undergoing surgery in the evening at a private hospital in Bhosari. A Class 10 student Sarjerao Kadam (15), suffered injuries to his stomach while Ishwari Phale, also studying in the same class, suffered head injuries and underwent surgery.
“District health officer Dr Bhagwan Pawar and I visited Sai Nath Hospital, Bhosari to meet the doctors and the guardians of the children who are admitted here. One child has undergone a surgery and is stable. The child is on ventilator and is recovering in an ICU. Two children have spinal injury,” said Pune ZP CEO Ayush Prasad.
“We spoke to the parents and assured them of all help from district administration,” he added.
“The hospital has all necessary facilities such as MRI, qualified doctors, blood medicines etc , said Prasad.
According to local police, the bus returning to Pimpalgaon Tarf Ghoda after taking students and teachers to Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA) observatory at Giravali, fell into the gorge near Giravali village.
The incident took place at around 2.30 pm on Tuesday. The bus was carrying nearly 49 passengers which included 20 and 11 students from Class 10 and Class 9 respectively, while 13 students of Class 8. Several of them sustained bruises while 14 suffered moderate injuries following which they were hospitalised.
The site of the mishap is located nearly 75 km from the district headquarters of Pune. Following the incident, the Ghodegaon police team immediately rushed to the spot and shifted 14 injured to the hospitals based in Bhosari and Manchar.
According to Ghodegaon police, the school bus of Muktai Prashala in Pimpalgaon Tarf Ghoda was carrying 44 students, 3 teachers and 2 bus staffers who had gone to Giravali to see a telescope at IUCAA Girawali observatory on Tuesday.
While returning, the driver of the bus trying to negotiate a sharp turn lost control over the wheels and the bus fell into the gorge, police officials said.
Jivan Mane, senior police inspector at Ghodegaon police station, said, “Prima facia, we can say that because of slippery road and heavy rainfall in that stretch, the driver lost control over the wheels of the bus at U-turn and fell into the gorge. However, we have been able to offer all medical help to those injured in the incident.”
Besides 12 students, a teacher and one bus staffer were injured and hospitalised. Eight injured were hospitalized at Manchar hospital and six injured were hospitalized in a private hospital in Bhosari, said police.
Jalindar Pathare, block development officer (BDO), said, all the children have been brought out safely. “The seriously injured children have been sent to a hospital in Manchar. There was no loss of life in this incident. We are investigating the reason behind the accident.’’
