Haldwani, Aug 28 (IANS) – More than a dozen children were injured on Thursday morning after a school bus carrying around 40 students plunged into a roadside gorge in Jaipur Bisa village near Bareilly Road under Lalkuan Kotwali, Uttarakhand. The accident occurred when the driver reportedly lost control of the speeding vehicle.
Eyewitnesses said the mishap took place as the bus driver tried to make way for another school bus near the Padampur Dewaliya intersection. In the process, the bus skidded and overturned into a ditch. Panic gripped the children as the bus toppled, and cries for help echoed in the area.
Local residents rushed to the scene, broke the bus windows, and rescued all the children. Over a dozen students, along with the driver and conductor, sustained injuries and were taken to a private hospital in Haldwani for treatment.
The incident sparked alarm among parents, many of whom rushed to the school to confirm their children’s safety. Since the accident site was close to the school, locals used private vehicles to transport the injured to the hospital before authorities arrived.
Padampur Dewaliya village head Ramesh Chandra Joshi blamed the crash on reckless driving, alleging that bus drivers in the area often drive under the influence.
“There were about 40 children in the bus; more than a dozen were hurt. Even after such a major accident, the district administration did not reach the spot. It was locals who rescued the children and took them to the hospital,” Joshi said. He also claimed similar incidents had occurred earlier, with neither the school nor the administration taking adequate preventive measures.
“Thankfully, the rain had stopped and the gorge was dry; otherwise, the consequences could have been far worse,” he added.
