Bhopal/Kota, Oct 17 (PTI) At least eight people from Madhya Pradesh died while 16 others were injured after their mini-traveller bus plunged into a 15-foot deep drain along the Delhi-Mumbai Expressway in Rajasthan’s Kota district on early Saturday morning, police said.
The incident took place at around 6 am near pole number 384 under Simliya police station limits, 35 km from the Kota district headquarters, police said, adding that the deceased included four women.
It was suspected that the driver became drowsy, causing the bus to veer off the road, though investigations were still underway.
The bus had left Bhopal at around 7 pm on Friday carrying 25 passengers, all of them related to each other and hailing from Bhopal and Betul districts, on a four-day religious tour. The group’s first destination was to be the Khatu Shyam temple in Sikar district of Rajasthan.
Betul Superintendent of Police Virendra Jain told PTI that some of the victims were from Ghatbiroli village, 65 km from the Betul district headquarters.
Emergency personnel immediately launched a rescue operation, despite the silt and water accumulated in the drain severely hampering their efforts. Cranes were deployed to pull out the bus and rescue the passengers, police said.
The injured passengers were taken to the New Medical College Hospital (NMCH) and MBS Hospital in Kota. Superintendent of NMCH’s Super Specialty Block Hospital Dr Ashutosh Sharma and NMCH Principal Dr Nilesh Jain said that eight persons were brought dead while 16 wounded persons were admitted for treatment.
Kota Rural SP Sujeet Shankar and ADM city Vinod Malhotra, who supervised the rescue operation, said the survivors were out of danger.
Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla visited the NMCH and spoke to the injured.
The deceased were identified as Aruna, wife of Kamlesh Jharbade; Vaishnavi (25), daughter of Yadurav Gawande; Trisha Godke (22), Krishnarao Godke (55), and Om Suryavanshi (26), all residents of Betul; Anita (50), wife of Rajkumar; bus driver Sachin Giri (27), and Rajuram Bhodke, all residents of Bhopal.
Among the injured, there were six women and two minor girls, police said.
Anshika, an injured passenger, said she was travelling with her extended family including her uncles, aunts and other relatives. Most of the passengers were asleep when the accident happened, she said, adding that the driver must have dozed off, causing the bus to fall into the roadside drain.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav directed officials to provide an aid of Rs 4 lakh each to the kin of the deceased along with all other possible assistance.
In a post on X, he described the incident as extremely tragic and distressing, and prayed to Baba Mahakal to grant peace to the departed souls and strength to their families to bear the loss. PTI COR RUK LAL ARU BNM KRK
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