A Tata Sumo pool car carrying 10 students of Loreto Day School, Elliot Road, collided with a Tata Nexon at the intersection of Dufferin Road and Red Road around 7.30am on Monday, leaving three children injured.

Police said the pool car driver allegedly jumped a traffic signal before the Nexon hit the moving Sumo on its left side near the East Gate of Fort William. On impact, the pool car tipped onto its right side and the windshield was smashed.

Policemen posted nearby and passersby helped bring the children out of the car.

The girls, who were coming from Howrah, were from classes ranging from the junior section to Class X, a school official said.

An 11-year-old Class VI student suffered a head injury that required stitches. Sources said her head bled profusely, staining her uniform. Two Class IV students suffered injuries to their elbows and legs.

All three injured students were treated at SSKM Hospital and later discharged, the police said.

The pool car driver suffered an injury to one of his hands and is undergoing treatment at SSKM Hospital, the police said.

A police officer said the Tata Nexon was being driven by its owner, who was taking his children to a south Calcutta school. The children in the Nexon were unhurt. The man was arrested and later released on bail.

“The pool car had started picking up children from near Nabanna. It took the Vidyasagar Setu and was heading north on Kidderpore Road. It was about to turn right from Outram Road when it collided with the Tata Nexon, which was travelling south on Dufferin Road. The collision took place at the intersection of Dufferin Road and Red Road,” an officer of Kolkata Police’s south traffic guard said.

The police said a preliminary inquiry indicated that the pool car driver had crossed the signal after it turned red. Instead of braking, he allegedly accelerated.

The Tata Nexon

“The driver of the Tata Nexon did not violate any traffic signal. But since the pool car driver was injured, a case has been started against the Tata Nexon driver. He was later granted bail,” an officer of Maidan police station said.

An eyewitness gave a similar account.

“The signal had turned red, but the pool car went ahead. It did not stop. At the same time, another car was coming from Dufferin Road, where the signal was green. The two vehicles collided,” the eyewitness said.

The mother of the injured Class VI student, a resident of Howrah, said another parent informed her about the accident.

“I received a call around 7.55am from one of the parents saying the pool car had met with an accident. Later, I got another call from the hospital after my daughter was taken there,” she said.

“My daughter has been travelling in this pool car for the past eight years. This has never happened before,” she added.

“The pool car is a private arrangement made by parents. Such vehicles are not under the school’s jurisdiction,” an official of the school said.

One of the students borrowed a passerby’s mobile phone to call her mother.

“The mother informed the school, and we sent a team of three teachers to the spot. Once they reached, the teachers accompanied the children,” said Nandini Bhattacharjee, education director, Loreto South Asia.