7 killed as bus crashes into oil tanker in foggy morning in Bengal

The drivers of both the vehicles were among those killed.

At least seven people were killed and 12 others were injured in a head-on collision between a bus and an oil tanker on the National Highway 34, near Farakka in North Bengal’s Murshidabad district early Saturday, police said.

Police suspect that the drivers could not locate the incoming vehicles because of the fog. (Reperesentative photo/Getty Images)

Locals said that the accident took place around 6 am when the stretch of the highway was covered in thick fog. Work to widen the highway was also going on at the stretch where the accident took place and traffic was being routed only through one flank. The vehicles were moving at high speed and the drivers might have failed to locate incoming vehicles, police said.

While the two drivers died on the spot, five others who were injured in the crash later succumbed to injuries in various hospitals. Police said that the condition of five others was critical.

While the bus coming from Siliguri was heading towards Berhampore, the oil tanker loaded with diesel was going to Assam from Kolkata.

It could not be ascertained how many passengers were traveling in the bus because of some of the passengers who escaped unhurt and those who sustained minor injuries left the spot.

“We were going to Assam after loading diesel in the oil tanker from Kolkata. On Saturday morning when we were heading towards Malda the bus crashed head-on at a high speed. The driver died on the spot,” said Sunil Kumar, the tanker driver’s helper.

Sub-divisional police officer Prasenjit Banerjee said, “The expansion work of NH 34 is going on at the particular stretch where the accident took place and the road is one way there. In the early morning, the bus was running very fast and somehow the bus driver failed to spot the oil tanker and crashed head-on.”