M A I N   N E W S

6 killed, 25 hurt in bus mishap near Solan
Ambika Sharma

Policemen along with local residents carry out rescue operations after a private bus fell into a gorge at Nando near Oochghat on the Rajgarh road on Wednesday.

Solan, October 6
As many as six persons, including a child, were killed and 25 others injured, seven of them seriously, when a private bus (HP-16-1095) en-route Solan from Haripur Dhar was hit by a canter, causing the bus to roll down about 300 feet in a steep gorge. The accident occurred around 11.15 am. The canter driver fled from the scene after the mishap.

Out of the 31 occupants, four died on the spot, while one was declared brought dead by doctors at the local district hospital.

Two bodies have not been identified. The deceased include Rann Singh (45) hailing from Giripul and driver Vipan (35) hailing from Hamirpur. Another person, Nityanand (40), hailing from Pabyana in Rajagarh, died while he was being taken to the PGI, Chandigarh.

The accident which occurred near at Nando near Ooachghat on the Rajgarh road reduced the bus to mangles. Locals who were the first to reach the spot had to cut open the bus parts to extricate the bodies. In the absence of adequate equipment, the villagers could not rescue a child, Jitender, who made frantic calls for help for over an hour before finally succumbing to his injuries. The child who had travelled all the way from Rajgarh to get his fractured arm treated finally lost his life in trying to reach the district hospital here. His body was later extricated by the NCC cadets who had rushed to the spot for help.

The locals rued that the only ambulance which was sent at the spot reached after an hour and that too without any doctor or medical aid.

It were the locals who transported the victims to the hospital in their private vehicles before the police or officials of the district administration could arrive there.

The police officials who were busy in a monthly crime meeting took as long as two hours to come while the other officials, including the DC, SDM took more than two hours to reach the spot.

This is despite the fact that the spot was merely a few kilometres from the town. The onlookers lamented that timely help could have saved precious lives.

A special police team headed by ASI Ashok Kumar has been sent to Giripul, Mariyog, Narag and Rajgarh to trace the canter driver responsible for the mishap. A case under Sections 279, 337 and 304-A of the IPC has been registered against the Canter driver for rash and negligent driving endangering the lives of people.

Another accident which had occurred near the same spot had claimed six lives in July this year. Though an inquiry was conducted into the matter yet no lessons appear to have been learnt, opined villagers of Ooachghat. With only five doctors present in the hospital, the staff had a tough time attending to the accident victims.