Seventeen persons werekilled and 23 others injured when their bus collided head-onwith a truck near Naugaon Navodaya Vidyalaya, about 20 kmsfrom here, today.
The bus was on its way to Chhatarpur from Harpalpur whenit dashed with a Naugaon-bound truck loaded with cement around7 am, police said.
The accident claimed 12 lives on the spot, while fourothers succumbed to injuries on way to a nearby hospital. Onemore person later succumbed to injuries in hospital.
Chhattarpur Collector Rajesh Bahuguna and other officialsreached the spot soon after the mishap.
Thirteen persons, of whom eight were in seriouscondition, were admitted to Chhatarpur district hospital,while the remaining are undergoing treatment at Nougaon civilhospital, police said.
The district collector has announced an ex-gratia ofRs one lakh each to the kin of the deceased persons and Rs10,000 each to those, who sustained minor injuries in theaccident.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan hasexpressed grief over the incident and announced Rs 50,000 eachto the seriously injured persons.
The deceased have been identified as Prabhu Raikwar,Nasir Ahmed, Devideen Ahirwar, Ramadhar Vajpayee, GhanshyamTiwari, Ramesh Chourasia, Manju Raikwar, Rafiq Ahmed, RupeshShriwas, Gyandeen Prajapati, Gorishankar, Prabhat Sharma, VedPrakash Sharma, Rajesh Kumari and Rajkumari.
Two of the bodies are yet to be identified, policesaid.
