At least 21 passengers sustained minor injuries when a bus, ferrying stranded passengers from Bengaluru to Goa, met with an accident after the driver lost control and the vehicle went off the road and fell on its side near Gadag in Karnataka on Friday early morning.
The passengers had a harrowing time, as the 12-hour journey took over 36 hours after a relief bus -- organised by Goa government -- got them back home on Saturday early morning.
The bus that met with an accident was initially sent to Chennai to pick up stranded people from Goa and then it made an onward journey to Bengaluru for the other passengers from the state.
“The bus picked up the passengers from Chennai on Thursday. However, it was held on the Tamil Nadu-Karnataka border for around eight hours, as the authorities were verifying the requisite approvals amid the lockdown restrictions imposed to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak. Around 21 of us boarded the bus from Bengaluru. It met with an accident at around 4.30 am on Friday, and we found ourselves piled up on top of each other,” said a passenger, requesting anonymity.
“Finally, one of the passengers managed to break the rear glass and we got out of the vehicle. Fortunately, all of us escaped with minor injuries except one girl, who suffered a gash on her forehead,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}“Finally, one of the passengers managed to break the rear glass and we got out of the vehicle. Fortunately, all of us escaped with minor injuries except one girl, who suffered a gash on her forehead,” he added.
{{/usCountry}}Though the state government arranged a relief bus, it arrived after 10 hours at 2 pm on Friday.
The relief bus arrived at the Karnataka-Goa border at around 8 pm on Friday, but the passengers had to wait, as per the protocol, till a police escort vehicle could take them to a Covid-19 testing facility and a quarantine centre. They arrived at their destination at around 5 am on Saturday.
Over 6,200 stranded people from Goa have registered on the state government’s website, urging the authorities concerned to organise their return at the earliest.