Gondia accident: Bus was overspeeding and trying to overtake, says preliminary probe report

Gondia: The Maharashtra state transport bus that overturned in Gondia district a day ago, killing 11 persons, was overspeeding and trying to overtake another vehicle when a two-wheeler came from the opposite direction leading to the accident, officials said on Saturday.

This was mentioned in the preliminary probe report that the local Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) officials submitted to the higher authorities.

The bus, operated under the service name ‘Shiv Shahi’, was carrying 40 passengers and heading to Gondia from Bhandara in eastern Maharashtra when it overturned at Khajri village in Sadak Arjuni taluka on Friday afternoon. Eleven persons were killed and 29 others injured in it.

An MSRTC team headed by Gondia depot manager Yatish Katre from Gondia conducted an investigation into the accident and submitted the probe report with the Divisional Office in Bhandara shedding light on the circumstances leading to the accident.

Katre said, “The bus met with the accident due as it was overspeeding and while it was overtaking a four-wheeler, a two-wheeler suddenly came in the front from the opposite direction, due to which the driver lost control and the bus overturned.” The officials denied the charge of lack of maintenance of the buses, saying all the vehicles were checked at the depots on a daily basis.

MSRTC’s Bhandara depot manager Sarika Limje said bus driver Raipurkar had joined the MSRTC service in 2011 and no major accident involving him was reported earlier.

Meanwhile, an MSRTC bus going to Chichgarh in Gondia district to pick up school students also met with an accident on Saturday morning after its driver lost control over it near Abdultola hamlet. The accident took place around 7 am, in which nobody was injured. The bus veered off the road and entered a farm along the road, officials said.