Deadly smog, engulfing the northern States, has claimed ten lives on Wednesday morning in Punjab. Waiting for a bus on the roadside, ten people, including eight college students, were run over by a speeding truck due to thick fog on Bathinda-Chandigarh highway.
Alarmed, the State Government has decided to shut down its schools for the next three days. Besides, strict instructions were issued to the Punjab Roadways and PRTC to issue detailed guidelines to the drivers to be extra vigilant and cautious while driving
buses in the prevailing weather conditions. The Government has also announced an ex-gratia of `one lakh each to the kin of the deceased and `50,000 to each of the injured.
Along with this, the Government has issued instructions to ensure best possible treatment, free of cost, to those injured in the mishap. The civil and police authorities in the district have also been directed to extend all help to the families of the victims.
The accident came a day after four people were killed and over dozen injured in a fatal road accident between a bus and a tipper near on Ferozepur-Fazilka road in Ferozepur due to poor visibility owing to a thick cover of smog in the area.
It has been learnt that the students, hailing from Rampura Phul area, were waiting for a bus after the bus, in which they were travelling in, broke down. The rashly driven truck first rammed into a Tata Sumo and then the students who were standing on the roadside. After the incident the truck driver fled from the spot.
Of the 14 students waiting there, eight died on the spot, while four were injured and were under treatment at civil hospital and Adesh Medical College. These were students of different colleges and coaching classes in Bathinda.
The accident occurred as a thick blanket of smog had enveloped the region and there was poor visibility on the roads.
One of the student, who had a miraculous escape, said all students were coming from Rampura and nearby areas in a private bus, which met with an accident as a bus rammed it from behind, due to which they all came walking a few meters and then started waiting for a bus on the roadside over the bridge, after which a speeding truck came and hit them.
The incident also led to a pile-up involving a PRTC bus, a private bus and four to five cars 50 metres from the spot. However, no casualties were reported in it, though a few people were injured. All the injured were rushed to the civil hospital in Bathinda.