Gondia, Maharashtra:

The death count from the bus accident in Gondia climbed to 12, including seven women, besides another 15 injured, some gravely, on Friday. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has condoled the tragedy.

The accident occurred around 12.30 pm on Friday when the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC)’s Shivshahi bus was speeding along the Gondia-Kohmara Road near Khajri village.

The bus, bound from Nagpur to Gondia and onwards to Bhandara with around 35 passengers on board, was speeding and trying to overtake a truck along a curve on the road in the Murdarli forest region, when a motorcycle suddenly appeared before it.

Attempting to avoid ramming into the motorbike, the State Transport bus driver swerved sharply at the high speed, lost control over the steering and the vehicle flipped over to one side, skidding for several metres before coming to a screeching halt some distance away.

Eyewitnesses said that on hearing the loud sounds of the accident, local villagers rushed to the spot and informed the local police, and launched a massive rescue operation.

As the bus door was jammed they smashed open the glass windows to help the trapped passengers and managed to retrieve around 12 bodies from the wrecked bus.

Another 15 passengers were brought out as they screamed in pain with different degrees of injuries and rushed to nearby hospitals in Gorgoan and Sadak Arjuni, the Gondia civil hospital, as the police, MSRTC officials, Highway Traffic Police, other rescue teams and district officers rushed there.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed ‘distress’ over the tragedy and announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the families of the victims and Rs 50,000 to the injured.

Caretaker Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has directed the district authorities to extend all medical help to the injured and inform the families of the victims, and announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of the victims.

Caretaker Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Congress state President Nana Patole, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) Executive President Supriya Sule, Shiv Sena (UBT) Spokesperson Kishore Tiwari and other leaders expressed grief over the tragedy and urged the authorities to expedite relief and medical help.

As per some local reports, the bus driver reportedly fled after the crash but MSRTC officials declined to comment on it.

Of the 12 victims who perished in the mishap, some have been identified as: Rajesh Lanjewar and his wife Mangala Lanjewar; Ramchandra Kanojia and Anjira Kanojia; Azhar Ali Syed and Arifa A. Syed; Kalpana Wankhede, Smita Suryawanshi, and Nayana Mitkar, and the details regarding others are awaited.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Thane, Maharashtra:

About ten persons were injured when a private bus taking people back from Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Dussehra rally in Mumbai met with an accident in Thane district, the police said today.

The accident happened at around 12:30 am on the Kolambe bridge on the Mumbai-Nashik highway near Shahapur.

A truck rammed into the bus from the rear side pushing it onto the divider. In the meanwhile, another bus hit the truck from behind and overturned due to the impact.

About ten people were injured, including two seriously, said an official. The police used cranes to move to buses and clear the road, he said.

The first bus was carrying about 20 people, who were returning after attending Chief Minister Shinde’s rally in Mumbai, said an official from Thane rural police control room. It was going towards Sillod in Nashik district, he said.

The injured were taken to a local government hospital for treatment, said the official from Thane police’s rural control room.

Mr Shinde on Tuesday addressed thousands of people at the Shiv Sena’s Dussehra rally at Azad Maidan in Mumbai. His rival and Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray held his party’s annual rally at Shivaji Park.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)