M A I N   N E W S

40 feared dead as bus falls into Bhakra canal near Sirhind
Mishap took place near floating restaurant in wee hours
Three bodies taken out
Sanjay Bumbroo & Surinder Bhardwaj/TNS

Early morning horror According to the footage of a CCTV camera installed at the Sambhu barrier toll plaza, the bus crossed the barrier around 1.10 am It might have fallen into the canal between 2.30 am and 3 am The tragedy came to light around 6.30 am when some morning walkers spotted the ill-fated bus submerged in the canal waters The bodies of three victims, including a woman, have been fished out while work is on to locate other bodies

Sirhind, July 31
Forty passengers were feared killed after an Amritsar-bound Punjab Roadways bus fell off a bridge into the Bhakra canal on the Rajpura-Ludhiana national highway this morning. The accident took place near the floating restaurant in the Sirhind area. The bodies of three victims were taken out by private divers, while the district administration has launched an operation to locate bodies of other victims.

Fatehgarh Sahib Deputy Commissioner (DC) Arun Sekhri and Senior Superintendent of Police Gurmeet S Chauhan said the tragedy came to light around 6.30 am when some morning walkers spotted the ill-fated bus submerged in the canal waters near the Sondha head, 4 km from the floating restaurant. The police was informed and a rescue operation launched. Five cranes were pressed into service to fish out the bus. The DC said they had urged the BBMB authorities to reduce the water level in the canal to facilitate rescue operation.

According to a CCTV footage, the bus crossed the Sambhu barrier around 1.10 am and might have fallen into the canal between 2.30 am and 3 am.

Darshan Singh Gill, GM, Punjab Roadways (Depot No 1), Amristar, said 25 passengers had boarded the bus from the ISBT, New Delhi. The actual number of passengers who boarded or alighted from the ill-fated bus on the way could not be known as both the driver (Surinder Singh of Tara Singh Wala in Tarn Taran district) and the conductor (Raman Kumar of Sundar Nagar in Batala) were also feared killed.