4 of 7 children killed in school bus collision in Madhya Pradesh were from same family

At least eight others were injured in the accident, police said.

Seven school children, including four from the same family, and the driver of the van they were travelling in were killed on Thursday after their vehicle collided with a bus in Madhya Pradesh’s Satna district, police said.

The deceased children were students of Lucky Convent School in Birsinghpur.(ANI Photo)

Sources in the police said the four children belonged to the family of Ramsunder Dwivedi, who lives in Devra, and two others were from Kamta Khushwaha’s family from nearby Pagar village. At least half a dozen others were also injured in the accident.

The accident took place when the children from Lucky Convent School were going towards Barsinghpur, some 450 km northeast of state capital Bhopal, in the morning.

The school van was crushed and five children died on the spot after it collided with the bus plying between Rewa and Chitrakoot. The driver and three other children died at the district hospital.

Police officials, who were among the first to reach the accident site, said preliminary details show the bus was going at a high speed and its driver lost control and collided with the van.

Angry parents protested at the school soon after the accident demanding the cancellation of its registration and registering a criminal case against the management. The parents alleged the school van did not meet the standards necessary for carrying school children.

Officials of the district administration reached the spot and sealed the school.

Satna’s collector Rahul Jain announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh each for the family of dead and Rs 50,000 for those injured.