Second mishap in 3 yrs: Highway horror shows lack of safety steps : The Tribune India

Join Whatsapp Channel

Second mishap in 3 yrs: Highway horror shows lack of safety steps

AMBALA: The highway horror of road accidents continues: This time it was the Saha-Shahzadpur road in Ambala district this morning.

Second mishap in 3 yrs: Highway horror shows lack of safety steps

Police officials and passers-by try to clear out the mangled remains of the dumper and the bus with the help of a crane at Rajpur village on the Saha-Shahzadpur road in Ambala on Tuesday. Photo: Dev Dutt Sharma



Manish Sirhindi

Tribune News Service

Ambala, March 31

The highway horror of road accidents continues: This time it was the Saha-Shahzadpur road in Ambala district this morning. Seven people, including two students and five college lecturers, of SRM Institute of Engineering and Technology and Swami Devi Dayal Group of Institutes were killed when their college bus collided with a dumper.

Three years ago, 13 schoolchildren were killed in the Saha school-van tragedy. The Tuesday morning crash once again brought to the fore the lack of safety measures on Ambala roads.

The accident took place around 8:35 am. The college bus was ferrying 29 persons from Ambala to SRM Institute of Engineering and Technology located at Kohra-Bhura (Bhurewala) in Naraingarh segment of the district via Saha.

The mishap occurred as the dumper was overtaking another vehicle on the road and it collided with the college bus. Reportedly, both vehicles were travelling at a high speed. The college bus skidded after it was hit by the dumper. The belongings of the students and lecturers were strewn all over the accident spot. Later, a crane was called to remove the bus and the dumper from the road. While, the driver and the helper of the dumper fled after the collision, they left behind weeping parents and spouses.

Chaos prevailed at the site when the authorities and some locals initiated rescue operations to save those involved in the crash. Despite putting in tremendous efforts, the lives of seven persons could not be saved; 22 others were rushed to Naraingarh and Ambala Cantt civil hospitals from where six were referred to PGI, Chandigarh. The six persons rushed to PGI, Chandigarh, include: Karan Uppal (25), college bus driver Pritam (30), Manish (43), Vivek (19), Amit Saini (25) and Ajay (20). All the victims were kept under observation at the Advanced Trauma Centre.

The rescue workers had to struggle for long before they finally managed to pull out everyone from the bus which was destroyed in the mishap.

Those killed include a woman lecturer Vipin, lecturers Parminder Singh, Deepak Sharma, Kesar Singh and Amir Khan. The students who died in the mishap were Ankit and Manish, both third year B.Tech students. While, four of them were declared brought dead at the Ambala Cantt civil hospital, three were declared dead at the Naraingarh civil hospital.

Among the injured, 14 were brought to the Ambala Cantt civil hospital, while three went to a private hospital. They were stated to be out of danger. Five others including the driver of the college bus were referred to PGI, Chandigarh, as they had sustained grievous injuries in the mishap. Cabinet Minister for Health and Sports Anil Vij along with senior functionaries of the district as well as the police administration reached the hospital and interacted with the victims.

Dreams of a bright future cut short

Ambala, March 31

Chairman of SRM Institute of Engineering and Technology Dr Rohan Lal Jindal said both Ankit and Manish, who died in the bus mishap, were among the bright students of the college. Both also participated in sporting events and won prizes for the college. 

Jindal said while Ankit had recently been praised by his teachers for his academic performance, Manish had only recently applied for leave to participate in a national-level weightlifting championship.

“Manish met me in the office a few days back and it is hard to believe that he is no more,” Jindal said. He added both students were very promising and their friends were confident that they would achieve much in life. 

It was also learnt that Vipin, who was killed in the crash, was a native of Naraingarh and had just got married almost two months ago. Rakesh Chaudhary, a college staffer said the students and staff were shocked.

---Manish Sirhindi

Killer state roads: Major accidents, not a first

Ambala

January 1, 2012, began on a tragic note for several families of Ambala district, as 11 children died when their overcrowded school van collided with a truck on the Saha-Shahbad Road about 20 km from Ambala. The van driver, Subhash (25), was killed in the accident

Yamunanagar

On April 28, 2011, a truck collided with a college bus of Shri Ram Institute of Management and Technology, Urjani in which 13 persons including 12 students and a staff member was killed while 28 others were injured near Munda Majara village on the Jagadhri-Poanta Sahib NH-73 A. The front tyre of the truck burst and it rammed into the college bus from the opposite side

Rewari

A girl student was killed and 36 other school students sustained injuries in three road-mishaps that took place in Jhajjar and Rewari districts during the last three years. On August 6, 2014, a private school bus hit a tree near Chilhar village after the driver lost control over the vehicle as he was over speeding. One of the girls Shikha (13) of Jaitpur village was killed while Indu and Prayag sustained serious injuries. Later, residents of Jaitpur village had blocked traffic on the Rewari-Pataudi road for two hours seeking immediate arrest of the bus driver

Jhajjar

On April 24, 2012, 25 school children and three others, including a teacher, were injured in a collision between a bus of Dujana Public School and a truck at Beri turn near Dujana village on NH-71. The bus was carrying 47 schoolchildren. On January 31, 2013, 11 persons, including nine schoolchildren and a teacher, were injured in a head-on collision between two buses, including a private school bus, on the Beri-Dujana road due to low visibility

Hisar

12 schoolchildren were injured when their school bus collided with a Health Department’s blood bank van near Dhana Kalan village on the Hansi-Narnaund road in Hisar district on January 27, 2015. The bus of a private school in Dhani Peeran village was ferrying schoolchildren when the accident occurred

Sirsa

Two years ago, on April 11, 2013, a school van collided with a tree near Dhani Majra village in Sirsa resulting in injuries to its driver and 15 schoolchildren. The bus was allegedly being driven by the conductor.

(with inputs from Shiv Kumar Sharma, Ravinder Saini, Deepinder Deswal and Sushil Manav)

Top News

Cash-strapped Congress gets fresh IT notice of Rs 1,700 crore, say party insiders

Cash-strapped Congress gets fresh I-T notice of Rs 1,800 crore

The Congress is already facing a funds crunch after Income T...

Arvind Kejriwal's wife releases WhatsApp number for people to send messages for jailed AAP leader

Arvind Kejriwal's wife launches WhatsApp campaign to garner support for AAP leader

In a digital media briefing, Sunita says her husband has cha...

High alert across Uttar Pradesh after gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari's death

High alert across Uttar Pradesh after gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari's death

Umar Ansari alleged that his father was subjected to slow po...

Mukhtar Ansari was subjected to slow poisoning in jail: Son

Mukhtar Ansari was subjected to slow poisoning in jail: Son

Ansari's post-mortem to be conducted in UP by panel of five ...


Cities

View All