Amreli: 7 killed, 27 injured as GSRTC bus overturns
A state transport bus on its way to Mahuva, overturned while negotiating a curve near Savarkundla town of Amreli district, killing seven persons and injuring 27 others seriously on Saturday. This is the second major accident involving Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) bus in a week.
The accident took place at around 11 am when driver lost control of the bus while negotiating a sharp curve near railway crossing in Luvara village, some 15 km east of Savarkundla. Police said that the bus skidded off the road and did two somersaults, killing seven persons and injuring rest of the 36 other passengers on board.
“There is a U turn at the railway crossing and the driver could not control the bus as he was going at around 45 km per hour. The bus did two somersaults after skidding off the road and killed seven person,” resident additional collector (RAC) of Amreli, Jayntilal Thesia told.
The injured were rushed to KK Mehta government hospital in Savarkundla, Amreli town and Rajkot. “While 21 persons are undergoing treatment in Amreli hospital, three others are being treated in Savarkundla hospital. Three critically injured have been shifted to civil hospital in Rajkot for further treatment,” said the RAC.
Thesia added that there were 43 passengers on baord the bus, including the driver and conductor. Some of the passengers who sustained minor injuries were given primary treatment and discharged, the RAC furtehr added.
Transport Minister Vijay Rupani also visited the accident site and inquired about the health of the injured in Amreli. “This a very unfortunate incident. The bus was just two year old and the driver had impeccable record in his 18 years of service. We can only say that it was a bad luck,” Rupani told The Indian Express over phone.
Chief Minister Anandiben announced on Twitter that the state government will pay Rs4 lakh ex gratia to the kin of those killed and will bear expense of treating the injured.
This is second major accident involving a the state transport service bus in last eight days. A GSRTC bus had fallen off a bridge and plunged into Purna river near Navsari last Friday, killing 42 passengers who were aboard.
Rupani said the government has taken note of the twin accidents. “This is second major accident and we have taken a serious note of it. We have ordered officers to instruct drivers to strictly adhere to traffic rules and prohibit using mobile phones while driving. We shall also plan physical and mental health camps for our drivers shortly,” the Minister added.
Meanwhile, Savarkundala Rural police have booked the driver of the bus for causing death by negligence and for rash driving.
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Source:indianexpress
