12 teachers among 13 dead in Fazilka accident

Praful Chander Nagpal & Raj Sadosh

Fazilka/Abohar, December 9

Thirteen persons, including 12 teachers, were killed when the vehicle they were travelling in collided with a truck in dense fog near Chandmari village on the Fazilka-Ferozepur road this morning.

The deceased teachers, five of them women, were aged between 25 and 40 years. While seven belonged to Fazilka subdivision, the remaining were from the Abohar area.

The ill-fated Trax Cruiser (PB 30H T 7600) was on a routine journey ferrying teachers from Abohar, Fazilka and surrounding areas to their posting stations in rural areas up to Lakhoke Behram of Ferozepur district, covering about 80 km.

The Cruiser carrying 13 teachers left Abohar around 7 am when visibility was extremely poor. It collided with the truck (RJ 01 GA 9599) laden with gravel around 8 am. The Cruiser driver, Sonu, a resident of Panj Peer Tiba, Abohar, also died in the accident.

While 13 persons died on the spot, another teacher from Fazilka, Gopi Ram, was seriously injured and was shifted to the Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, Faridkot.

The deceased teachers are: Kiran Bala (25), Tajinder Kaur (26), Sheetal Kukkar (29), Sanjeev Baghla (37), Ashish Kataria (40), Shankar Kumar (35), Sukjeet Singh (28), all residents of Fazilka subdivision; Natasha (30), Binti (30), Ram Pal (36), Manohar Lal (40) and Nazam Singh (37), all residents of Abohar subdivision.

A pall of gloom descended in Abohar as the news broke. Teaching work in almost all government schools came to a halt as condolence meetings were organised. Most of the deceased were cremated in the evening in the presence of hundreds of teachers and relatives in their respective areas.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal mourned the death of teachers and driver, while Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal cancelled his schedule Saturday visit to Abohar. Health Minister Surjit Kumar Jyani, Ferozepur MP Sher Singh Ghubaya and Abohar MLA Sunil Jakhar visited the Fazilka hospital to mourn the deaths. Jakhar, while talking to The Tribune, demanded a new policy for teachers to ensure their postings in nearby stations.

Among the deceased, Tajinder Kaur (26) got married on November 27, while Sanjeev Baghla (37) was the only son and of his physically challenged parents. The sole breadwinner in the family, Baghla is survived by a wife and two minor children.

Sheetal Kukkar (29), mother of a child, was expecting a second baby, while Rampal, who had recently been transferred to Abohar, was on his way to fetch records from Jodhpura village, where he was posted earlier.

For music teacher Sukhjeet Singh (28), the celebrations of getting a government job lasted just three weeks. He had married eight months ago. A Fazilka teacher, Jyoti, did not board the ill-fated vehicle as her child was ill.

Govt job for kin: Cheema

Education Minister Daljeet Singh Cheema has announced a government job for an eligible family member of each of the deceased within a week. Cheema, who visited Fazilka in the evening, said a financial assistance would be announced after a Cabinet meeting.