At least 27 killed in bus mishap in Bihar

27 passengers were killed and over a dozen others feared dead when a bus fell into a roadside pond.

MADHUBANI: At least 27 passengers were  killed when a private bus fell into a roadside pond in Bihar's  Madhubani district today.   

"A total of 27 persons were killed in the bus accident.  All the bodies have been fished out from the pond," Madhubani  District Magistrate Giriwar Dayal Singh said.     

Many of the passengers, who had boarded the bus, swam to  safety or might have jumped out of the bus to save themselves,  the DM said.             

The accident took place at Basaitha chowk under Bennipatti  police station in Madhubani district, about 50 km from the  district headquarters.      

The private bus, carrying about 65 passengers, was on its  way to Sitamarhi from Madhubani when the mishap took place on  the state highway.   

The bus was pulled out of the pond with the help of a  crane.          

In Patna, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed deep  sorrow and said in a statement that reason of the accident was  being looked into. He instructed officials to speed up relief  and rescue operation.        

Kumar instructed Revenue minister Madan Mohan Jha and  Panchayati Raj minister Kapildeo Kamat to rush to the accident  spot.   

Superintendent of police Deepak Kumar Barnwal and other  policemen, who received stiff resistance from the villagers  who were angry over delay in reaching of crane and pelted  stones at them, managed to reach the spot after additional  force came in.    

 A team of SDRF (State Disaster Response Force) has reached  the mishap site.  The CM issued instruction to provide assistance to the  victims. Besides, Kumar also directed for payment of ex-gratia  to the family members of those killed in the incident.   

Apart from DM and SP, Darbhanga Divisional Commissioner R  K Khandelwal, Darbhanga Inspector General Umashankar Sudhanshu  and other senior police and civil officials of Madhubani and  Sitamarhi were camping at the spot along with Benipatti MLA  Bhavna Jha.

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