A policeman stands near the truck involved in the accident. Picture by Nantu Dey

Raiganj, Feb. 18: Twenty people, including 10 women and two children, were killed when a private bus they were travelling in collided head-on with a sand-laden truck on NH34 at Rahatpur in North Dinajpur district today.

Police said 15 people had died on the spot, while two had succumbed to injuries on the way to the Raiganj district hospital. Three passengers died at the hospital where 27 others are being treated for injuries.

The bus that had left Hili at 6am was bound for Siliguri when the accident took place at Rahatpur, about 170km into the journey. Local people first swung into rescue operation and police from the Karandighi station, 7km from the spot, joined soon.

Rahatpur is 40km from here and the accident occurred at 12.15pm.

The dead and the injured were first taken to the health centre at Karandighi. About 30 injured people were taken to the Raiganj hospital.

Moinul Haq, the owner of a tea stall at Rahatpur, said the bus had swerved sharply to the right to avoid a cyclist and then met with the accident. “I saw the bus swerving and the driver poking his head out of the window, without slowing down, to see whether he had hit the cyclist. The truck coming from the opposite direction hit the bus,” said Haq.

Mohammad Rafiq, a survivor, said he was returning to Chakulia from Kanki with his relative Tarzana Bibi and her daughter Minara Khatun. “I was the only person standing in front of the bus near the conductor when the driver swerved to the right. He then stuck his head out of the side window towards the rear. Suddenly, I saw the truck right in front and both the vehicles collided head-on,” said Haq.

While Tarzana Bibi, 45, died on the spot, her daughter survived.

Three members of a family from Bidhhannagar in Darjeeling district also died in the collision. They are Jharna Pahan, 68, her daughter Ponchu Pahan, 45, and Ponchu’s son Rabi, 15, a student of Class VIII.

Some of the other dead persons whose identities have been established are Kundan Rishi, 12 (Karandighi), Shyamal Kundu, 55, (Hili) and Meena Saha, 24, and Sanjib Das, 30, both from Raiganj.

Police said Kundu was travelling to Siliguri with his son, Somen, to fetch history notes from a private tutor. Somen is appearing for MA history from the North Bengal University as a private candidate, the police said.

North Dinajpur district magistrate Ramanuj Chakrabarty, who had visited the injured people at the hospital here, said the administration would bear all the medical expenses. “I have ordered an inquiry into the incident, but I cannot say anything about compensation for the next of kin of the deceased and the injured,” he said.

The superintendent of the district hospital, Arabindra Tantri, said 27 injured people were being treated.

“Many of them are in a serious condition as they have suffered injuries on the head or the upper portion of the body. Some of them need to be referred to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital. But these patients’ condition has to become stable to endure the 190-kilometre trip,” he said.