15 labourers killed in MP bus accident

New Delhi, October 22

A bus coming from Hyderabad to Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur met with an accident in Madhya Pradesh’s Rewa district late Friday night, killing 15 persons and injuring 40, most of them labourers heading home for Diwali.

According to Rewa Superintendent of Police Navneet Bhasin, the bus rammed into a tractor-trailer on NH-30. “The trailer-truck driver suddenly applied the brake as it hit a vehicle ahead of it. Consequently, the bus crashed into the truck,” he said. The victims were mostly labourers going home in Uttar Pradesh for Diwali. “The bus was from Uttar Pradesh,” the SP said.

The President, Prime Minister and Chief Ministers of UP and MP expressed grief at the tragedy.

CM Shivraj Singh Chouhan said rescue operations were carried out throughout the night and the seriously injured taken to Rewa Medical College. “The Madhya Pradesh Government will bear the cost of treatment of the injured. Passengers with minor injuries were sent to Prayagraj by bus after first-aid. We stand with the affected families in their hour of grief,” he tweeted

“The Prime Minister has announced Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased. The injured will be given Rs 50,000 each,” the PMO said in a tweet. President Droupadi Murmu expressed grief over the loss of lives: “I am deeply saddened. My deepest condolences to the bereaved families. I wish the injured a speedy recovery,” she said.