Twenty-seven schoolgirls from the Jiti tea estate, located in the Nagrakata block of Jalpaiguri, were injured on Saturday when the driver of the dump truck taking them to school suddenly slammed on the brakes.

Among the students, two have sustained serious injuries and are under treatment. The workers demonstrated at the garden against the accident.

A source said on Saturday morning, the girls, who are students of St. Capitanio Girls’ High School in Nagrakata, were waiting for the school bus.

However, they were informed that the bus, which is provided by the garden authorities, was unavailable.

“The bus had developed a technical fault and was sent to the workshop for repairs. We suggested that the students skip going to school today (Saturday). But they insisted that they had some urgent work at the school,” said a representative of the garden
management.

The authorities stopped a truck and a dump truck passing by and requested them to take the girls to school.

When the dump truck was near Thaljhora Bazar on NH17, the driver abruptly stopped the vehicle due to the poor condition of the road.

As the vehicle came to a halt, the students lost their balance and fell on top of each other. Some of the girls collided with the planks in the rear of the truck and were injured.

The girls were able to reach the school but eventually fell sick.

The school authorities informed the garden management. A team soon arrived and took the girls to the rural hospital in Sulkapara.

Later, police officers spoke to the girls.

Later, the students were shifted to the super-speciality hospital in Malbazar
for treatment.

“It is an unfortunate incident. We had no idea that it would happen. We just wanted to help the girls go to school,” the management’s representative added.

At the tea garden, as the news spread, the workers left their duties and congregated in front of the factory office around 12pm.

They resorted to a demonstration, accusing the management of being responsible for the incident.

“It was an irresponsible act by the management to put our children in trucks. They should have made appropriate transport arrangements,” said a worker.

The protest continued for some time and was withdrawn after the managerial staff spoke to them and assured necessary steps, a source said.