BHUBANESWAR: At least seven school children were injured and an auto-rickshaw driver sustained critical injuries after an Ama Bus collided with it near a fuel station in Pitapalli on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on Friday.
The bus captain was also reportedly assaulted by some locals when he tried to help the injured following the accident. As per reports, the accident occurred around 10 am when the Ama Bus, operating on Khurda to Bhubaneswar railway station route, had just moved ahead after dropping passengers at the bus stop near the fuel station.
An auto-rickshaw carrying school children reportedly entered the service road from the wrong direction and collided head-on with the left side of the bus. The injured children and the auto-rickshaw driver were shifted to the nearest hospital for treatment.
According to officials of the Comprehensive Regional Urban Transport (CRUT), the bus captain, Sananda Behera, sustained critical injuries after he was reportedly attacked by locals while attempting to assist the injured auto-rickshaw driver.
In a clarification, CRUT said its operations and technical teams, along with local authorities, promptly reached the accident site and coordinated emergency response measures. The agency maintained that the bus was travelling at a controlled speed of less than 15 kmph after safely dropping passengers at the designated stop. It also confirmed that all passengers on board were safe and necessary arrangements were made to minimise inconvenience to commuters.
CRUT said its initial assessment indicated that the bus driver was not at fault and that the auto-rickshaw was travelling in the wrong direction on the service road. The three-wheeler had entered the service road through the Pitapalli underpass, officials said, adding that the circumstances leading to the collision were being investigated by the appropriate authorities. CRUT will extend full cooperation to the investigating agencies, officials said.