M A I N   N E W S

10 killed, 17 injured in bus-truck collision
Tribune News Service

Malout, December 28
Ten persons, including two women, were killed and 17 others injured when a Rajasthan Roadways bus collided with a canter near Kabarwala village, 9 km from here, on the Malout-Sriganganagar highway this morning.

Of the 17 injured, five persons, whose condition was stated to be serious, have been shifted to Muktsar, Bathinda and Abohar hospitals. While eight of the injured have been discharged after first aid, four are still undergoing treatment at the local Civil Hospital.

According to eyewitness account, the accident took place at about 9.40 a.m. when the bus, which was on the way to Sriganganagar from Amritsar, collided with the canter bound for Chak Duhewala village in Muktsar district from Abohar near the bridge of a distributary at Kabarwala village.

Such was the impact of the collision that the cabin of the canter was severed from the main body. Two women passengers were crushed to death as they came under the bus after it tilted. The canter was carrying employees of a catering party from Abohar to Malout.

The killed included three bus passengers while the rest were travelling in the canter.

The victims have been identified as Karamjit Kaur, Rajwanti of Gharsana Mandi in Rajasthan, Dharam Singh, Ganesh, Shanti, Sonu, Shivraj, Jeetia, Deepak Sahbhi. One was yet to be identified. The bodies had been shifted to the Malout civil hospital.

Ms Usha R. Sharma, Deputy Commissioner, who along with other civil and police officials went to the spot and later to the Civil Hospital here, pointed out that injured were shifted to the hospital in the PRTC bus which was stopped on the way. A pick-up van was also used to shift the injured. She said two cranes, one from the Army, were used to pull out the bodies of the two women from under the bus. All the injured were provided medical treatment free of cost.

Ms Sharma said she had informed the Chief Minister, Capt Amarinder Singh about the accident but had no idea if some grant would be given to the next of the kin of the deceased by the government. The preliminary investigations have revealed that the accident did not take place due to fog, as the visibility was absolutely clear.

Pappu, one of the injured, said they were going to provide catering services at a marriage function at Chak Duhewala village while six persons died on the spot the others succumbed to their injuries while they were being shifted to other hospitals.

Police sources said the driver of bus, who had been identified as Harminder Singh, had been shifted to the Bathinda Civil Hospital. The canter driver is absconding.

Mr Naresh Sachdeva, Chief Manager, Rajasthan Roadways, Sriganganagar, who also reached here, said that Rs 10,000 would be given to the next of the kin of the deceased passengers of the bus while Rs 5,000 would be given as aid to those injured. He said a decision to pay compensation to other deceased and injured would be taken at the higher level only after verification of the insurance aspects.

Mr Amrik Singh Waraich, SP, Muktsar, said all formalities had been completed and the postmortem of the bodies had started. The bodies would be handed over to the relatives after the post-mortem.