42 killed as bus plunges into creek in West Bengal

Wednesday 31st January 2018 05:53 EST
 

BEHRAMPORE: Fourty-two people died after a bus plunged 25 feet into a creek from a bridge in Daulatabad, 12 km from Murshidabad district headquarters Behrampore, on Monday. Six bodies were recovered by the rescue team. Most of the dead were state government employees, primarily school teachers.

The bus careened off the bridge while trying to avoid a head-on collision with a truck. Witnesses said the driver was speaking on his phone while driving and refused to heed repeated pleas by passengers not to do so. Seven persons, who were near the door, jumped off even as the vehicle broke through the bridge's concrete barrier; one of them later died at a hospital and the other six were being treated for serious but not life-threatening injuries. Rescue operations continued well after dusk as divers searched for more bodies or survivors from the deep creek.

Officials said the search would continue but admitted that the possibility of finding survivors was extremely slim. One of those who jumped off the bus and survived was Swapan Haldar. "The driver went on speaking on his phone and ignored our pleas to disconnect," he said from hospital.

The driver, whose identity was yet to be established, somehow managed to avoid this collision but, in the process, drove the bus into the Balirghat bridge's concrete barrier. The locals, who immediately started rescue operations, spotted three bodies and seven survivors. Of these seven, one died minutes later. The first team of cops took 40 minutes to reach the spot, but was visibly unprepared. Locals, who had been waging an uphill battle all on their own, let loose their frustration, attacking the cops and setting ablaze two government vehicles. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee cancelled all her prior engagements and decided to head to the spot with transport minister Suvendu Adhikari and principal secretary (transport) Alapan Bandyopadhyay.


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