A school bus carrying around 50 students overturned near Kondhwad village in Maharashtra’s Ahilyanagar district early Saturday, injuring at least 15 children, one of whom is in critical condition, the state’s chief minister said. The accident has once more raised fears about the safety of school transport in the state, coming just after a tragic school bus disaster in Mumbai claimed the life of an 11-year-old boy.
Based on preliminary information, the accident occurred in the Rahuri area of Ahilyanagar district when the bus was transporting children to school. The reason behind the collision is not clear yet, but the vehicle overturned on the side of the road and many of the students were trapped and panic struck in the neighborhood.
Police and residents immediately went to the site and started a rescue operation. They took the children and evacuated them from the overturned bus quickly and took them to a private hospital in the vicinity.
At least 15 students sustained injuries of varying degrees, the report said. Most have minor injuries, but one child is in critical condition and receiving treatment. Fortunately, no fatalities have been reported in the accident, it said.
The school bus was lying on its side next to the road when emergency personnel arrived, as seen in the accident site pictures. Parents also rushed to the scene and later went to the hospital to check on their children as rescue and relief efforts continued.
Ahilyanagar - A school bus carrying around 50 students overturned in Ahilyanagar on Saturday, injuring approximately 15 children.The incident occurred when the bus lost control and flipped over. The injured students were immediately rushed to nearby hospitals for medical… pic.twitter.com/W1aeR4ihxX
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Police will investigate the cause and circumstances of the accident. The condition of the vehicle, the driver’s conduct, and whether mechanical failure led to the crash will be investigated by investigators.
The incident has raised doubts about the safety of school buses and the need for stricter monitoring of vehicles transporting children, especially during the monsoon season when road conditions often become hazardous.
The accident comes less than a week after another tragic school bus accident in Mumbai's Chembur. On June 30, 11-year-old Vihan Shrivastav died when a huge peepal tree collapsed onto a school bus that was taking students from Universal High School.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that the tree was uprooted at Heritage Pride on Road No. 11 in Chembur and fell directly onto the Force Motors school bus while it was carrying 12 students.
Before emergency teams arrived on the scene, the bus conductor and local residents started to save the trapped children. Members of the Mumbai Fire Brigade and police later joined the operation and evacuated all the students safely.
Five children were admitted to Zen Hospital for treatment. Four sustained minor injuries and were discharged after medical treatment. But 11-year-old Vihan Shrivastav was critically injured and died that day at the hospital.
The two incidents within a few days have once more made clear the importance of ensuring the safety of school transport and strengthening emergency preparedness. Parents and education authorities have also called for better school bus inspections and road safety measures, as well as regular maintenance checks to prevent such accidents in the future.
The Ahilyanagar bus accident also raises questions about what will be done after the investigation into the cause of it has been concluded.
