2 students injured as school bus carrying 32 catches fire in Batala; minister orders probe

Ravi Dhaliwal

Batala, May 4

Punjab Education minister Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer has asked Gurdaspur DC Mohammad Ishfaq to hold a probe into the incident of a school bus getting trapped in a blaze emanating from a wheat stubble fire in the nearby fields following which two children were injured.

Ishfaq said he had asked Secretary, RTA, Sukhwinder Singh Brar, to probe the sequence of events leading to the incident and submit his report within 24 hours.

The incident occurred in the jurisdiction of the Qila Lal Singh police station.

The bus, which belonged to Guru Har Rai public school, Bijliwal village, was carrying 32 children when it overturned and rolled to the side of the road. The incident occurred in the afternoon after the school hours.

An officer said diesel started leaking from the bus and this acted as a catalyst in the vehicle catching fire from a wheat stubble fire which was raging nearby.

Villagers from adjoining villages reached the spot and started rescuing the children. DC Ishfaq said he had ordered the District Red Cross the bear the expenses of the treatment of the two children. They were rushed to the Batala civil hospital where they have been declared to be out of danger.

“High velocity winds carried the stubble fire towards the bus. The vehicle was totally gutted,” said Harpreet Singh who was involved in the rescue.