E-Paper
Speeding bus falls off Ladhowal flyover, seven passengers injured
Passengers allege driver, conductor consumed liquor on board the vehicle, bus was being driven rashly; duo flee on foot after accident; police await formal complaint to lodge FIR
In a freak mishap, a speeding private bus veered off the Ladhowal flyover and overturned on the bylane near Hardy’s World on National Highway 1 on Friday night, leaving seven passengers injured, while 33 others had a narrow escape.
According to the passengers, the bus driver and conductor were inebriated, and the former was driving recklessly.
The duo managed to flee the scene on foot after the accident.
The police are waiting for a formal complaint from the injured to lodge an FIR against the driver and conductor.
Those injured were identified as Buta Singh of Friends Colony, Meharban; Lekh Raj of Meharban; Gurmukh Singh of Shimlapuri; Amritpal Singh of Shimlapuri; Laxmi of Model Town; Raj Kumar of Kartarpur and Ravinder Kumar of Hargobind Nagar.
Buta said he had boarded the bus from Jalandhar to reach Ludhiana. He alleged that the bus driver was speeding and driving rashly.
After reaching Phagwara, the driver and conductor bought liquor and consumed it in the bus.
When the passengers objected, the driver passed it off as routine affair, and asked them not to worry.
Around 10pm, when the bus reached Ladhowal flyover in Ludhiana, the driver lost control over it, causing the bus to fall off the elevated road and overturn on the adjacent bylane.
Hearing screams of the passengers, passers-by rushed to their aid, and smashed windows of the bus to rescue them.
The injured were rushed to Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) and Ludhiana civil hospital in an ambulance and private vehicles. Their condition is stated to be stable.
Inspector Kanwaljit Singh, station house officer (SHO), Salem Tabri police station, said though passengers claimed that the driver was drunk, they had not received a complaint to lodge an FIR. But police have impounded the bus.
