25 children injured as school bus overturns

Shimla: 25 children were injured when a school bus overturned and fell into a ditch while the driver was trying to overtake another bus near Dehar in Mandi district this morning.

The bus with around 30 children on board was on its way from Samlog village to Vivekananda Public School in Dehar when the accident occurred in Sundernagar sub-division, about 130 km from here.

The injured children were rushed to Sundernagar hospital and referred to zonal hospital at Mandi after first aid. All of them are under treatment and out of danger, chief Parliamentary Secretary, Sohan Lal, who visited the spot, said.

“Most of the students sustained minor injuries while half a dozen students had multiple fractures but none of them was in critical condition,” he added.

The local administration has given immediate relief of Rs 5,000 to each of the seriously injured besides promising free treatment.

The driver of the bus is among the injured.

Eye-witnesses said that the accident took place as the driver tried to overtake another bus and it fell into ditch.

The roof of the bus was torn apart in the incident and the children were resued from the opening, they said.

Students from distant villages study in the school.

Meanwhile, a driver working for a construction company died when his truck fell into a gorge at Nihari, 70 km from here on Theog-Hatkoti national highway, police said.

The deceased was identified as Karan from Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh.