Second electric bus accident in Kanpur in two weeks; six injured

Kanpur: Six people were injured when a speeding electric bus hit several cars and two-wheelers here on Friday, police said.

The bus carrying dozens of passengers was on its way towards the Tatmil crossing from the Baradevi crossing when the accident took place as its driver lost control over the vehicle, they said.

In a similar accident involving another electric bus on January 30, six people were killed and as many injured in the Rail Bazar area when its driver rammed the vehicle into auto-rickshaws, motorcycles, cars, and a traffic booth.

Though no life was lost in Friday’s accident, six people sustained serious injuries.

The injured were admitted to the nearest hospital, from where one of them was shifted to the Lala Lajpat Rai (LLR) hospital in a critical condition, the police said.

Bus driver Athar Singh Katheria of Nurwal, Kanpur, and helper Arvind Kumar Kurmi of Rai Bareli have been nabbed, they said.

With tempers running high after yet another electric bus accident, Divisional Commissioner Raj Shekhar, Police Commissioner Vijay Singh Meena and District Magistrate (DM) Neha Sharma rushed to the spot and persuaded enraged people not to take the law into their hands.

Senior officials announced the suspension of electric bus services for the next three days.

Additional DM Atul Kumar and Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Raveena Tiyagi have been asked to conduct an inquiry and get a technical inspection of all the electric buses done and submit the findings at the earliest, said a communique issued by the Kanpur Police Commissionerate.