In a shocking incident, a school bus on Wednesday got trapped in the stubble burning in a village in Batala with at least three

school children suffering serious burn injuries.

The bus, they were traveling, caught fire near Qila Lal Singh village under Batala of Gurdaspur district when the bus driver

was unable to control the vehicle through the smoke and ended up trapped in the fire.

There were at least 41 children aboard the bus which was completely gutted. The local villagers managed to rescue all the

children from the bus — belonging to Shri Guru Har Rai Public School at Qila Lal Singh village.

The local officials maintained that some farmers in the area had burnt their leftover crops on the roadside. “A huge cloud of

smoke enveloped the area and the school bus driver was unable to control the vehicle through the smoke and ended up trapped

in the fire,” said the official.

The official maintained that the heat from the stubble burning set the bus on fire. “Many villagers, who were around at that

time, rushed to rescue the children when they saw the bus catching fire. They started the rescue operation on their own,” added

the official.

“The villagers managed to rescue all the school children from the burning bus and rushed them to a nearby hospital where they

are undergoing treatment now, but one of the students is stated to be in a critical condition,” added the official.

The school bus had around 41 children on board the bus at the time of the mishap. Of them, three children have received major

burn injuries and are undergoing treatment, added the official.

Local police sources said that investigation is underway to nab the farmers responsible for burning the stubble on the roadside.

The stubble-burning issue has been widely debated in Punjab. The situation has been compounded in the last few days due to

strong wind