West Bengal: 10 people injured in road accident in Panagarh on Lakshmi Puja

Kolkata: A terrible road accident in West Burdwan district on Sunday morning, left at least ten people wounded, with some of them suffering grievous injuries.

All the injured people were admitted in hospital for first-aid treatment. The accident happened on National Highway 19, on the morning of Lakshmi Puja, when a tourist bus from Jamui (Bihar), heading towards Kolkata, collided with a coal-laden vehicle on the Panagarh bypass in West Burdwan.

The collision was so intense that the front portion of bus got mangled.

According to locals and eyewitnesses, the tourist bus hit the back of a coal-laden vehicle. The collision caused extensive damage to the bus. The accident triggered panic among the passengers and those in the region.

A rescue operation was launched to rescue the injured passengers and transfer them to hospital. The police personnel reached the spot and carried out rescue work with support of local residents.

The injured were rescued and rushed to Durgapur Sub-district Hospital. Some of the injured were said to be in critical condition.

A bus passenger Ravi Shankar Sau told reporters, "Around 10 people were injured. A few were seriously injured. We rescued them. The police came and took the injured to the hospital."

The traffic on the national highway was disrupted for sometime, due to the accident. There was traffic jam for some time but was soon the road was cleared by the cops. Police are investigating the reason for the accident.

The road accident, coinciding with the Lakshmi Puja, has raised questions about safe and smooth traffic regulations on the national highway.

Many local residents complain that the lack of surveillance on the bypass has resulted in people driving recklessly on the stretch.

Police said they are probing the reasons behind the mishap. All angles are being looked into including the speed of bus, whether the driver lost control of vehicle or whether the collision was triggered by some other factors.

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