Jan. 24: Two teachers of a Tamluk school were killed and at least 28 students were injured when the bus taking them to Ranchi on an excursion overturned after the driver allegedly dozed off early today.
Police said there was no evidence that the driver was drunk or speeding along National Highway 60A. The bus swerved to the left and overturned on a 6-foot deep moram road in Purulia's Hura.
The teachers of Kurpai High School who died were identified as Lakshman Chandra Adak, 42, and Amit Samanta, 40. Sources said both suffered head injuries.
One of the students with serious injuries to the head was admitted to Purulia district hospital nearby while 27 others were taken to Tamluk district hospital. The students travelling in the bus were of Classes IX to XI.
Although the operator of the bus could not be contacted, sources said the driver could have been tired from the multiple picnics and tours made usually in the winter.
As tourist buses are few in the districts, they are hired on most days through December-January. Drivers hardly get a break from one trip before starting the next.
The officer in charge of Hura police station, Aditya Banerjee, said: "The accident occurred around 1.30am. Our preliminary probe suggests that the driver dozed off and lost control of the vehicle. The road is good and most passengers have said the bus wasn't speeding. Nor did it hit any other vehicle."
The driver and helper of the bus escaped.
The officer said another evidence supporting that the bus was travelling at moderate speed was that the vehicle suffered little damage.
Alok Shree, a doctor who examined the injured students and teachers at the Tamluk hospital, said: "Three or four of them complained of pain in the head. We have prescribed a CT scan. The others have been kept under observation."
Santanu Bakshi, one of the four injured teachers admitted to the hospital, said: "We started for the Dassam falls in Ranchi on Saturday afternoon. There were 55 students and six teachers. The teachers were sitting in the driver's cabin. There was a loud thud and we were jolted out of sleep. We found that the bus had overturned."
After the injured students and teachers reached Tamluk by train, water resources investigation minister Soumen Mahapatra met them at the station and arranged for their hospitalisation.
