Ten persons including three women and two children were killed after getting thrown off into a nullah and more than 20 others injured after the passenger bus they were travelling in rammed onto the side of a railing of a bridge near Madanpur village of the district, a senior police officer said here on Monday.
The incident occurred near Madanpur village about 25 km from Morga police outpost on Ambikapur-Bilaspur National Highway, Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP), Korba, lal Umed Singh informed.
The bus had started from Bisharmpur and was heading towards Korba.
“At around 10.30 am while the bus had reached the bridge, it seems the driver had lost control over the speeding vehicle near Bahni nullah and it hit the railing,” ASP said.
The impact shattered the windscreen of the bus and window glasses due to which some passengers were thrown off their seats and out of the bus while the vehicle was left hanging on the bridge after the impact, Singh said.
At the time of the mishap, around 35 passengers were on board. The vehicle belonged to a private bus operator Hindustan Travel. The victims were killed on the spot while the injured were shifted to a local hospital in Korba.
Those killed were identified as Baliram (60), his son Sukhlal (40), Nirmal Khute (32), Shanti Bai (32), Faleshwar Yadav (30), Mahaveer Prasad (57) and Pushpa Banjare (30). Besides, a woman-Parvati Sahu (30) and her two minor daughters- Muskan (11) and Chanda (7) were also killed in the mishap, the ASP said.
Six critically injured passengers are undergoing treatment at Korba district hospital, the ASP said.
The driver of the bus fled from the spot after the incident and efforts are on to trace him, the ASP said. A case has been registered in this connection and further probe was on.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Raman Singh has expressed deep condolence to the bereaved families and wished for the speedy recovery of the injured.
The Chief Minister has directed Korba district administration to provide best possible assistance to the injured persons.